COVID test facility identifies 5 UK variant cases, 1 Denmark variant in NC

Five of the cases were the B 1.1.7 variant, also known as the UK variant.

However, MAKO also identified a new case of the third COVID variant, known as the Denmark “cluster five” variant.

MAKO conducts testing in six states.

"Based on the MAKO laboratory team’s recent sequencing of indicated samples, MAKO identified 35 variant cases," said the statement released by the company.

According to their statement, the predominant variant remains the B 1.1.7 variant, first identified in the United Kingdom, which made up the overwhelming majority of the latest variant cases reported.

Their release provides a full chart of variant cases they have identified across the six states.

In the statement, MAKO said that according to the CDC, 611 cases of the UK variant have been identified across 38 states.

Only five of the B.1.351 variant cases have been identified in the US. They are in South Carolina and Maryland.

“As we continue our sequencing of indicated samples, we have found a continued rise in variant occurrences,” said Steve Hoover, Vice President of Laboratory Operations at MAKO Medical. “Over the past week, indicated samples are now returning positive variant cases at a 50% rate, up from a 25% percent rate last week."