Health officials in Colorado have identified five cases of a coronavirus variant first discovered in India.

The cases involve five females in Mesa County who are all from different households, according to a news release posted Thursday. .

Officials said all individuals are between the ages of 30 and 65 years old and that the cases were identified through the sequencing of test samples.

"It’s called cocooning, we use this to protect those who are too young to get vaccinated and others who for various reasons may not be able to get vaccinated," Jeff Kuhr, Mesa County Public Health’s executive director, said in the news release

"We know it’s been a long 14 months, you may be done with COVID-19 and the associated measures, but COVID-19 is not done with Mesa County," Kuhr said