Southwest Virginia sees its first cases of the COVID-19 strain from the UK

The UK strand of the coronavirus is spreading in Virginia.

On Saturday, the Virginia Department of Health reported the 15th such case of the SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.7 in Virginia and the first in the Central Virginia region.

The cases were identified in samples from three adult residents of Southwest Virginia who had no history of travel during their exposure periods.

The map below shows precisely how VDH defines the Southwest region.

[Where are Virginia’s coronavirus cases? The health department’s interactive map]

VDH says that this strain is associated with increased person-to-person transmission of COVID-19.

With its first case last month, Virginia became the 23rd state to report this new strain.

As of Saturday, 49 total states are reporting a total of 2,102 cases of this strain, according to the CDC.