(WXYZ) — Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan confirmed that two cases of the COVID-19 variant have been identified in Detroit.
As of Tuesday, 45 cases of the variant were identified in Michigan across 10 counties.
In a press conference Tuesday, Chief Medical Executive Dr. Joneigh Khaldun said state officials are "very concerned" about the variant.
Dr. Khaldun said the variant is likely in the general community and is more easily spread from person to person.
Both Dr. Khaldun and Governor Gretchen Whitmer stressed the importance of masking, social distancing and washing hands to protect against the new variant.
While the state has identified outbreaks associated with the COVID-19 variant, officials are doing aggressive testing and contact tracing.
Additional Coronavirus information and resources:
View a global coronavirus tracker with data from Johns Hopkins University.
See complete coverage on our Coronavirus Continuing Coverage page.
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