HARTFORD — HARTFORD — Shortly after announcing last week that three cases of the aggressive and more deadly B.1.1.7. variant of the COVID-19 virus had been discovered in neighboring Oxford, Governor Ned Lamont said he will be extending the cutoff of Connecticut’s public health and civil preparedness emergency from February 9 to April 20 to help control the impact of the pandemic statewide.

Connecticut public health officials confirmed that the COVID-19 variant B.1.1.7. has been detected in four additional individuals in the state who recently tested positive for COVID-19. This brings the total number of confirmed cases of the variant in Connecticut to eight.

The individuals — who live in New Haven (two), Oxford (three), and West Haven (three) — range in age from 15 to 50.

Several individuals were tested through Griffin Hospital’s testing program between January 6 and January 18. Subsequent genomic sequencing by Griffin’s laboratory partner, The Jackson Laboratory of Farmington, confirmed the presence of the variant.

The four individuals who have been most recently identified to have the variant live in New Haven and Oxford, though only two live in the same household. Aside from those two, there does not appear to be a link between these individuals, nor does there appear to be a link with the other four previously identified cases.

One individual remains in isolation, and the others have completed their isolation periods. The Connecticut Department of Public Health has confirmed that one individual recently traveled to the United Arab Emirates and had contact with a person who tested positive there. Travel histories on the other individuals are unknown at this time.

More Cases Assumed

The governor said that the new strain, which is considered to be more easily transmitted, is spreading quickly throughout the world.

“It’s highly likely that these are not the only eight cases in Connecticut,” Lamont noted. “That is why it is so important that everyone continues taking precautions to prevent transmission of this disease. The health of Connecticut residents remains our top priority, and our public health officials will continue to closely monitor these cases and any other developments with this contagious virus.”

Acting Public Health Commissioner Dr Deidre Gifford said the increasing presence of the new strain in Connecticut, along with reports of other new COVID strains circulating in the United States and other parts of the world should serve as “a stark reminder that it is imperative that we continue to wear masks, social distance, practice good hand hygiene, and limit gatherings to the members of your immediate household.

“It is also crucial,” she added, “that anyone experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 or who has been in close contact with someone diagnosed with COVID-19 get tested and self-quarantine while awaiting the results.”

The variant is widely assumed to be associated with increased transmission and is associated with a steep rise in COVID-19 cases in the UK.

Lamont’s initial release stated the variant was not assumed to be more deadly, nor is it expected that it will have a significant impact on vaccine effectiveness. USA Today reported last Friday, however, that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that a coronavirus variant first detected in the country in September may be around 30 percent more deadly than previous versions of the disease.

The following day, CNN reported that scientists at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are speaking with UK health officials to learn more about British data.

“The CDC has reached out to UK officials and is reviewing their new mortality data associated with variant B.1.1.7.,” a CDC official told CNN Saturday, using the scientific name for the variant first spotted in the UK in November.

Then, on Monday, Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told Politico the COVID-19 variant ravaging the United Kingdom — which the CDC has predicted will become dominant in the United States within roughly two months — is likely more deadly than the current common strain of the coronavirus.

Emergency Powers Extended

It is unclear whether or how much the discovery of the variant in Connecticut influenced Lamont’s decision to request the extension of his emergency powers. On Tuesday, he signed a declaration extending Connecticut’s state of emergency in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic to April 20.

The extension applies to both the civil preparedness emergency and the public health emergency.

The governor originally declared the emergencies on March 10, 2020, explaining they were needed in order to enable the state to provide its residents with an adequate response to the pandemic. They were initially scheduled to expire on September 9. Due to the ongoing nature of the pandemic, they were renewed late last summer and given a new expiration date of February 9, 2021.

Lamont said that while the recent development of several vaccines provides great hope that the pandemic will soon be under control, the virus continues to rapidly spread, and emergency measures are still needed to help mitigate its impact. Ending them now, he said, would pull a safety net from under the citizens of Connecticut.

“The people of Connecticut are to be commended for their actions to prevent the further spread of this virus, and I truly believe that the steps they’ve taken have made an impact,” he said.

“That said, the virus is not going to suddenly end on February 9, and to eliminate all of these preventative measures on that day would be irresponsible and in many cases life threatening,” the governor added. “Our administration remains committed to working in collaboration with the legislature on these emergency orders as we’ve done throughout this pandemic so that we can provide the best protocols needed to protect the residents of our state.”