First UK coronavirus variant cases found in Central Florida: What you need to know about each new variant

ORLANDO, Fla. — The first cases of the UK variant of the coronavirus have been found in Central Florida.

On Thursday, Orange County officials announced the first two cases of the UK variant of the virus were found both in people who live outside the area -- one in Broward County and the other in Seminole County. The next day, both Brevard and Volusia county officials said they’d also each detected a single case of the variant.

WATCH: What you need to know about each new coronavirus variant

The first two cases of the South African variant in the U.S. were diagnosed in South Carolina this week, but local doctors say it’s likely already in Florida, too.

Internal Medicine Specialist Dr. Aftab Khan spoke with Channel 9 to break down what experts know so far about the new coronavirus variants spreading across the globe. Click through the gallery below for what you need to know about each variant.

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Coronavirus variants Internal Medicine Specialist Dr. Aftab Khan broke down what experts know so far about the new coronavirus variants spreading across the globe. (WFTV Staff)

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“This thing is evolving so fast on daily basis that my wife said, ‘why don’t you sleep at two o’clock in the morning?’ ‘No, I cannot. Because I work with these patients, day in day out,’” Khan said.

He said the only way to stop these variants is to get protective immunity through the vaccines, also emphasizing mitigation measures as well as genome sequencing.

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