More cases of COVID variant in Alaska

ANCHORAGE (AP) - Four additional cases of a Coronavirus variant first detected in Brazil have been found in Alaska, state health officials said.

Two of the cases were from Anchorage and two from Eagle River, health officials announced March 10.

One case of the variant had previously been detected in Alaska, but officials last month said additional cases were likely given the person in that case had not recently traveled outside Alaska and did not have a clear source of infection.

As of March 9, 15 cases of the variant had been reported in the U.S., according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But experts have said those numbers likely don’t reflect the true number of cases, given limited capacity for the complicated laboratory work required to detect individual strains.

Officials in Alaska have said a consortium of state and university scientists has provided a good picture of what versions of the virus are circulating in the state. They also have said vaccinations are important to keep variants from spreading more widely.

Alaska previously recorded two cases of a variant first detected in the United Kingdom.