[ad_1]
The first case of the mutant ‘super-COVID-19’ strain was found in Southern California, Governor Gavin Newsom said Wednesday.
Newsom announced that the ‘super-COVID’ strain had landed in California during a virtual conversation with Dr. Anthony Fauci on Wednesday afternoon.
Just an hour ago we were informed that this new variant, this new strain that we have obviously identified in the UK and some other parts of the world, identified yesterday in Colorado, has been identified here in the state of California, in southern California. ‘ said.
This comes after the first American case of the mutant strain, first detected in the UK, was confirmed in Colorado this week.
The strain is not believed to be any deadlier, but it is said to be 70 percent more contagious, marking a blow to the Golden State, which is already crumbling under the weight of the pandemic.
A Californian now dies every three minutes from the virus and the state broke its record for daily deaths from COVID-19 on Tuesday.
The first case of the ‘super-COVID-19’ strain was found in California, Governor Gavin Newsom said Wednesday.
Newsom did not say where the case was detected other than Southern California.
He also did not give details about the identity of the individual or whether he has recently traveled.
Alarm bells went off Tuesday when it emerged that the Colorado man in his 20s who became the first known case of the most infectious strain had not been traveling, meaning the variant must already be circulating on the ground. American.
Newsom asked Fauci about the new strain and what it could mean for the state and the US, as the country’s worst fears that the new variant could have landed in the US came true this week.
“I know there have been a lot of conversations on the subject of variants, on the issue of transmissibility,” he said.
‘I have a broader curiosity on the topic of diagnostics on the testing side, immunity … have we received enough information to really understand the impacts in other categories? Not only on the issue of the severity of the disease and the transmissibility of this disease. ‘
Fauci told Newsom that he was “not surprised” that a case was detected in California and said he expected other states to report cases of the strain.
“I’m not surprised he has one case and probably more cases in California,” said the nation’s top immunologist.
We’re likely to see reports from other states – Colorado was the first place to do that and I think we’ll start to see it as having so much prominence of this in the UK with all the travel not just directly to the US, but via Other countries intermittently, like when you go from the UK to France, France to the US, etc. Canada has cases.
So I don’t think Californians should feel this is strange. This is something to be expected. ‘
Newsom announced that the ‘super-COVID’ strain had landed in California during a virtual conversation with Dr. Anthony Fauci on Wednesday afternoon.
Fauci told Newsom he was “ not surprised ” that a case was detected in California and said he expected other states to report cases of the strain.
Fauci said there is already “a lot we know” about the new strain because UK experts have been studying it, but there are also a lot of things that will become clear as “the days and weeks go by.”
“It seems quite clear from the UK group that, in fact, the transmissibility of this mutant is more efficient than the transmissibility of the standard virus we have been dealing with so far,” he explained.
The announcement of the first case of the new variant in California comes a day after Colorado announced that it had detected the first case of the mutant strain in the US and just hours after officials said they believed they had detected the second. .
Gov. Jared Polis revealed Tuesday that Colorado had confirmed the country’s first case of the most infectious strain in a person in his 20s with no recent travel history.
The National Guard member probably got it from within the state, because he had no recent travel history.
His lack of travel history is particularly alarming, because it means the man contracted the virus locally, suggesting that it is already spreading in the community.
“ As the variants spread more rapidly, they could lead to more cases and put even more pressure on our already overstretched health care systems, ” the head of the emergency preparedness division said Wednesday. from the CDC for Emergency Infections, Dr. Henry Walke. press call.
Elbert County Health Director Dwayne Smith told CNN on Wednesday that officials are investigating a second person believed to have the most contagious strain first detected in September in the UK.
Both people suspected of having ‘super-COVID’ are members of the National Guard who had worked at the Good Samaritan Society’s assisted living facility in Simla, Colorado, which is located in Elbert County.
Neither resides in Elbert County, and Smith told CNN there is “ no indication at this time ” that the new strain of coronavirus has traveled outside of the facility where they worked.
Each patient is isolated outside the county. It is unclear whether the two workers may have been infected, or have been infected by, at-risk residents of the facility.
The state health department said at a news conference Wednesday that its lab is working on sequencing the virus detected in the second man.
Dr. Rachel Herlihy, a state epidemiologist, said the confirmed and suspected cases were two of six National Guard members deployed to the Good Samaritan Society nursing home.
So far, none of the other four have tested positive for COVID-19.
An investigation is underway to see if there are other cases in the nursing home.
Governor Jared Polis issued this statement saying that the infected person is a man in his 20s who had not been traveling.
So far, no cases or suspected cases have been reported off-site in Simla, about an hour and a half outside of Denver, but the first confirmed patient had no recent travel history, suggesting that the new strain is already in the works. propagating in Colorado.
So far, Colorado has tested 22 samples suspected of having the new variant, and it has been ruled out in all but two members of the National Guard.
Scientists are still not sure whether the two members of the National Guard contracted the British variant of the coronavirus in the nursing home or outside of it, and perhaps transmitted it in the facility.
The strain, which is believed to be 70 percent more infectious, was found in a man in his 20s who “is currently isolated in Elbert County and has no travel history.”
B.1.1.7 is not believed to lead to more serious cases and higher mortality rates have not been reported.
“At this time, there is no evidence that this variant causes more serious illness or an increased risk of death,” the CDC stated on its website.
