Even as Michigan's COVID-19 cases have plateaued overall, the number of new variant cases keeps climbing.
The state now has confirmed more than 420 cases of the more easily transmitted B-117 variant. It was originally identified in the UK.
Two-thirds of the state's cases are associated with an outbreak at a corrections facility, says the state's chief medical officer, Doctor Joneigh Khaldun.
"But there are other places in the state where we do not know where those individuals became infected with the variant," said Khaldun. "Which means there is likely some undetected spread occurring in the community."
The variant was first identified in Michigan in mid-January.
So far, it's the only variant that's been detected in the state.
