March 03, 2021 – Houston had cases of every affected variant of the virus that causes COVID-19, according to a major new genome sequencing study.
Health officials have classified the six variants identified in the study as problematic because they have genetic changes that can make the virus more contagious or help it evade immunity to vaccines or previous infections.
The new insight comes when Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that he would lift the mask mandate there and “open Texas 100%”.
The preprint study, which has not yet been fully verified by outside scientists, decoded genomes of SARS-CoV2 viruses isolated from more than 20,400 COVID patients. This equates to around 4% of all COVID cases that have occurred in this city in the past year.
Houston is the fourth largest city in the United States with an ethnically diverse population and an international port. It is also home to some of the best virus hunters in the nation.
The study used a sufficiently large sample of viruses to give a “deep and realistic” picture of the situation there, said Dr. Keith Jerome, director of virology at the University of Washington in Seattle.
“This is very impressive work,” said Jerome, who was not involved in the research. “It’s one of the most comprehensive looks we’ve ever gotten from viruses in any given area in the US.”
The study’s authors say Houston may be the first city to find all varieties, but it’s likely not the only one to have it.
“It is likely that there are other cities in the country that have all of these variations and are just simply unaware,” said study author Wesley Long, MD, medical director of diagnostic microbiology at the Houston Methodist Hospital.
The genomes analyzed for the study are from March 2020. The Houston Methodist Health System is part of a global network of genome sequencing laboratories called the ARTIC Network, which is constantly on the lookout for new viral variants.
The variants discovered in the study first appeared in tests in December, according to Long, and more cases were discovered in January and February of that year.
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