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A new coronavirus variant is linked to a deadly COVID-19 outbreak at Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center. The outbreak resulted in at least 90 infections and one death.
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The variant called L452R was discovered in other countries and states last year.
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It is different from another, more transmissible variant initially discovered in the United Kingdom.
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A new coronavirus variant has been linked to several outbreaks in Santa Clara County, southeast of San Francisco. One of the outbreaks resulted in at least 90 infections and one death at the Kaiser Permanent Medical Center in San Jose, public health officials said.
The variant known as L452R was discovered in other states and states, but is now spreading rapidly through California. It is different from the B.1.1.7 variant, which was first found in the United Kingdom.
“The fact that this variant has been identified in several major outbreaks in our country is a red flag and it needs to be further investigated,” said Santa Clara County health official, Dr. Sara Cody, said in a statement. “This virus continues to mutate and adapt, and we can not guard.”
California is partnering with Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, local public health departments and consecutive partner labs to learn more about the variant and how it spreads, according to the joint statement from the California Department of Public Health, Santa Clara County, and the University of California San Francisco.
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“It’s too early to know if this variant will spread faster than others, but it certainly reinforces the need for all Californians to wear masks and reduce less interference with people outside their immediate households to slow the spread of the virus,” said Dr. . Erica said. Pan, state epidemiologist of the CDPH, said.
The statement reads that the variant was linked to the outbreak of Kaiser Permanente, which led to the death of one staff member. Official health officials have fined the medical center $ 43,000 for alleged delays in reporting cases, NBC reported. The facility denied the delay.
The cases are apparently related to an employee who wore an inflatable costume at Christmas to cheer up patients. The fan on the ‘air-powered costume’ would be able to distribute drops to 77 staff members and 15 patients.
This variant has been found in several other provinces, including Los Angeles and San Francisco, but how common it is throughout the country or country is not yet known, as genomic sequencing is not done equally in the state.
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