The new British coronavirus strain has been found in California, government Gavin Newsom announced on Wednesday.
The coronavirus B.1.1.7. The variant is said to be more transmissible than COVID-19, but it does not presumably become more virulent or resistant to vaccines and treatment. In a study published by British scientists, it is 56 percent more contagious.
The U.S. on Tuesday upheld its first case of the variant in an unidentified 20-year-old man in Colorado. Newsom has announced that the new strain of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 has been found in Southern California. Both cases involve members of the Colorado National Guard who were deployed to help the Good Samaritan Society nursing home in Simla, where there was a widespread outbreak.
The US is now one of at least 17 countries with confirmed cases of the British variant. South Africa and Nigeria have reported separate variants of the virus.
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“I’m not surprised you have a case or probably more cases in California,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci said in a virtual conversation with Newsom. “I do not think Californians should feel that this is something strange. It is expected.”
The COVID-19 that causes coronavirus and others like it mutates frequently, he said.
“To all my California friends – and I have many – they need to realize that it’s a RNA virus … RNA viruses, they deserve a existence of mutation, they like to mutate,” Fauci said continued.
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The detected arrival of the variant in California comes as cases and hospitalizations peak in the state, and the ICU capacity is 0 percent in Southern California. Facilities have begun to discuss the possibility of rationing care. California set a one-day death record on Tuesday when 442 people died of coronavirus.