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More-contagious 'U.K. variant' of coronavirus identified in New Orleans, Lake Charles

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A more-contagious variety of the coronavirus has been confirmed in Louisiana.

"Today we have confirmed Louisiana's second and third case of the U.K. COVID variant," Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards announced at his Thursday afternoon pandemic briefing.


The governor said the cases are in the New Orleans and Lake Charles areas.

The Louisiana Department of Health said the vaccines that are being distributed should be effective against this strain, and it is not known to make people more sick. although more study is needed.

The southwest Louisiana case is not in an individual who reported travel outside the state. The New Orleans-area case is still under investigation.

There are more than a dozen other suspected cases of the U.K. variant in Louisiana that are pending confirmation in lab tests.