Idaho confirms its first case of a mutated COVID-19 virus. Here's what we know Audrey Dutton, The Idaho Statesman Feb. 19—Idaho health officials have confirmed the first known case of a COVID-19 variant in Idaho. The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare and Southwest District Health on Friday confirmed the first known infection with one of the global coronavirus "variants of concern" in an adult male living in Southwest Idaho. The man recently traveled outside the U.S. "and is thought to have been exposed before returning to Idaho," a news release from Health and Welfare said. Laboratory testing identified the virus that infected him as the B.1.351 variant of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. That variant was first detected in South Africa in late 2020. There were 21 confirmed cases of people infected with that variant in 10 states, according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Protection data from Thursday. Idaho's case brings that total to at least 22 cases in 11 states.