Ohio researchers on Wednesday announced that they’ve identified two coronavirus variants that likely originated in the United States.
One of the new strains was identified in a single patient in the state, "so researchers do not yet know the prevalence of the strain in the population," according to Ohio State Wexner Medical Center where researchers first identified the variants.
This new variant "carries a mutation identical to the U.K. strain, but it likely arose in a virus strain already present in the United States," officials said.
Additionally, researchers also found what was described as an "evolving strain with three new mutations" that has become "the dominant virus in Columbus during a three week period in late December 2020 and.