The Minnesota Department of Health announced on Saturday night that it has confirmed five cases of the more-contagious coronavirus variant that was first detected in the UK, making it the ninth U.S. state to report the variant. 

According to state authorities, the five cases were recorded in the Twin Cities metro area and came from four different counties in the metro area, adding that the onset of their illnesses was between December 16 and December 31.

"It's important to note that this variant strain of the virus has been found in other states in the U.S., so we were expecting to find the virus in Minnesota. Knowing that it is now here does not change our current public health recommendations," said State Epidemiologist Ruth Lynfield.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tracking, as of Friday, at least 63 such variant cases have been reported from eight states: California, Colorado, Texas, Georgia, Florida, Pennsylvania, New York and Connecticut.