Rapid emergence of transmissible SARS-CoV-2 immune-evasion variants in mild community cases

The emergence of viral mutations in severely immunodeficient patients with prolonged viral shedding is believed to be a significant source of highly infectious SARS-CoV-2 variants. We observed that community cases can also rapidly develop viruses with viable, culturable mutations with the potential for immune escape during the normal course of infection within two weeks of disease onset.