Government Gavin Newsom announced on Wednesday that a COVID-19 variant first identified in South Africa had been discovered in the Bay, with one case in Alameda County and another in Santa Clara County.
The case in Santa Clara County involves an adult who traveled internationally, who returned in mid-January and was then placed in quarantine, Dr. Sara Cody, public health officer in Santa Clara County said.
The person started developing symptoms a few days after the return and was tested. Health officials learned Wednesday morning that the person had been found to have the variant, based on the results of genomic sequencing.
Government Gavin Newsom announced on Wednesday that a COVID-19 variant first identified in South Africa had been discovered in the Bay, with one case in Alameda County and another in Santa Clara County. Marianne Favro reported.
“The encouraging news from our side is that this person will be placed in quarantine immediately upon return,” Cody said. “Therefore, we know of no opportunities for further spread within our community.”
The case in Alameda County was a resident who was diagnosed with COVID-19 in January and later found the variant. It was not immediately clear whether the person had recently traveled internationally.
“Our investigation is still ongoing, but we can say that this person is no longer contagious to others,” said Dr. Nicholas Moss, health officer of Alameda County, said.
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At this point, the two cases are apparently not linked, Cody said.
In total, the state has fewer than 1,500 identified cases of various variants, Newsom said.
Scientists and health officials fear that the variant may be more contagious, less responsive to treatments and more likely to re-infect people who have already had the virus. The variant from South Africa was first identified in South Carolina in the United States at the end of last month.
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“The issue of mutations is the best,” Newsom said during a visit to Fresno, the latest in a series of stops across the state to highlight vaccination efforts.
In general, the state is making progress in controlling the virus. Less than 5% of the people tested now produce positive results, and daily confirmed cases of infection have dropped to about 8,400 from a peak of more than 50,000 a month ago.
Newsom has claimed that more than 5 million vaccine doses have been administered, but the state is still facing questions and criticism about the deployment of the popular shots. The state plans to move next week from an attempted vaccination by the province to a centralized approach managed by Blue Shield of California. The state has yet to disclose the details or cost of the contract with the major health insurer, although Newsom said it will do so by the end of this week.
In an afternoon legislative hearing, two provincial health officials said the state’s current vaccine database counts among the number of vaccines administered, a development they fear could cause provinces to receive fewer doses in the future because they do not appear to be taking their doses. do not use quickly.
“The system is not broken, it just seems like doses being administered are not appearing,” said dr. Aimee Sisson, Yolo County Public Health Officer, said. The province has received 14,000 doses and has administered 10,400 to date, she said. But according to the state system, the province received 14,500 shots and gave only 7,500.
Dr. Paul Simon, chief medical officer in Los Angeles County, said his country received 1.2 million doses and, within four days of receiving them, administered 80%. But he is not confident that the state’s data system reflects these numbers.
Incomplete data make it difficult to track how many doses go to residents of Black and Latino that appear to be subordinate, the two health officials said. Dr. Erica Pan, the state epidemiologist, on Monday gave an outline of racial and ethnic data on vaccines to another government panel. However, the state did not make the information publicly available on its website.
Government officials say the Blue Shield partnership will address some of the issues surrounding data collection. The new, centralized system will be designed to provide more clarity, more transparency and more accountability around the distribution of vaccines, Newsom said.
The government in Biden is now giving the state a three-week preview of how many doses of vaccination can be expected, and the state is trying to give provinces a similar forecast, he said.
“It’s dynamic and as you well know, we’ve had an attack and started over the last few months,” Newsom said.
Yet provinces say they have no information on exactly how the new system will work. Santa Clara County wants to request an exemption from the use of the new state portal for residents to sign up for vaccines, called MyTurn, but the state will require all provinces to use it. Health officials in Orange County have said they do not want to ask people who are already registered for appointments with the state system to report back to the state.
The state plans to integrate provincial vaccination sites into the new system, said Amy Tong, head of state information.
Dr. Tomás Aragón, director of the California Department of Public Health, repeatedly acknowledged during the legislative hearing that the state’s vaccine approach needs to be improved.
“What we are doing now is not working,” said House Speaker Jose Medina, a Riverside Democrat. He said the rollout so far has been ‘nothing short of chaotic’.
“We completely agree with what you say,” Aragón replied.
In Fresno, however, Newsom received praise from local and state-elected officials, as he did on similar occasions in the state this week. Democratic officials have praised him for tackling the virus in a clear attempt to refute criticism as a campaign to retrieve Newsom is gaining steam. In contrast, a protester shouted ‘recall Gavin’ during the news conference.
“I do not care that you are a Democrat or a Republican, I care that you are healthy and safe,” Newsom replied when asked to respond to the recall effort.