British variant of coronavirus surfaces in Orange County – Orange County Register

A San Clemente man has captured a new and apparently contagious variant of COVID-19, Orange County’s first known case of the so-called British tribe and probably not the last, public health officials said on Monday, February 8th.

The 21-year-old man tested positive for the variant on January 26, Dr. Clayton Chau, director of the OC Health Care Agency and health officer of the country, wrote in a memorandum to the Board of Supervisors on Monday.

“His symptoms have now disappeared,” Chau wrote. “He has no history of international travel. He is not part of a larger outbreak. We try to have his close contacts tested to see if they have evidence of infection. ‘

The California Department of Public Health reported the matter to the provincial health agency over the weekend, Chau said.

State Health Department staff said Monday additional details could not be released to protect patient privacy.

The variant – known as B.1.1.7 – was first discovered in the UK in September and is spreading rapidly around the world. It is one of a few COVID-19 mutations that scientists are scrambling to find out more about, including whether it causes serious diseases than the original coronavirus strain that started the pandemic.

‘Viruses are constantly changing through mutation, and new variants of a virus are expected to emerge over time. Sometimes new variants emerge and disappear. Other times new variants emerge and keep going, ”Chau wrote.

Since the man contracted the new strain without traveling abroad, there are likely to be more cases in the UK in Orange County that have not yet been identified, Drs. Matt Zahn, deputy provincial health officer and medical director of Public Health Services’ communicable disease control said. Section.