Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness

March 17, 2021

Spread of a Variant SARS-CoV-2 in Long-Term Care Facilities in England

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  • The proportion of SARS-CoV-2-positive samples that had an S gene target failure (suggestive of the B.1.1.7 strain) rose dramatically in late 2020 in the UK. The number and proportion of samples with S gene target failure increased from 12% to 60% between November 16 and December 13. By December 7, in South East England 57% of samples from adults under the age of 65 and 76% of those obtained from those over age 65 had S gene target failure. Sequencing data were only available from two samples with S gene target failure from long-term care facilities, both of which were found to be B.1.1.7. 

Krutikov et al. (Mar 16, 2021). Spread of a Variant SARS-CoV-2 in Long-Term Care Facilities in England. New England Journal of Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMc2035906