Scientists in Los Angeles are trying to figure out the rapidly spreading strain of the coronavirus, which has led to a surge in cases in the United Kingdom behind similar growth in California.
The mutation is 70 percent more contagious, but it doesn’t seem to be more fatal.
COVID-19 is out of control in Los Angeles County and other parts of California, despite other efforts to prevent lockdowns and outbreaks, while the state has passed 2 million cases the day before Christmas.
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Officials have blamed the boom in holiday gatherings and travel but also pointed to more physical activities such as shopping for possible reasons for the steady spread.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is among those wondering if the new type of virus could be behind the huge numbers.
“It happened devastatingly quickly. Everyone I spoke to was saying that this acceleration was beyond any model and any expectation, so people say ‘what happened?’ “And I think it was partly out of that stress,” Garcetti said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.
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Barbara Ferrer, director of public health in LA County, said the public health laboratory is starting gene sequencing to test the virus samples collected there, but it will take about a week to get results.
This article first appeared in the New York Post.
