The new coronavirus strain first found in the United Kingdom has now popped up in Florida, the state’s department of health said Thursday.
The COVID-19 variant was found in a Martin County man in his 20s with no travel history prior to his diagnosis, The Florida Department of Health said on Twitter.
Two other cases of the mutant strain were found earlier this week in the U.S., first in Colorado and then in California.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned that the new variant of the coronavirus could be 70 percent more transmissible than the previous strain.
Federal infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci has said he expects the new strain to crop up in other states, too.
The Sunshine State’s discovery of the mutation comes as health officials there reported the highest daily jump in standard COVID-19 cases ever on Thursday.
There were 17,192 new cases on the last day of 2020 and 133 new deaths, raising the toll to 21,857.