Another COVID-19 variant is spreading across California, including in the Bay Area, where it has been linked to multiple major outbreaks, health officials warned Sunday.
The variant, named L452R, differs from the highly transmissible B.1.1.7 variant first found in the United Kingdom.
San Francisco and Santa Clara are among the places where the new variant was found. It was first detected in California last year, along with other states and states, and has increasingly registered in viral genomic order from several provinces, officials said.
Dr. Sara Cody, the public health officer in Santa Clara County, said the variant was identified in the massive outbreak in a Kaiser Permanente emergency room in San Jose, which killed dozens of people and led to one death. An inflatable Christmas costume, powered by an air pump, may have helped spread the virus.
While much remains unknown about L452R, a UCSF virologist said it has mutations to the peak protein that the coronavirus uses to infect cells.
“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 mixing with people outside their immediate households to slow the spread of the virus,” he said. . Erica said. Pan, California’s state epidemiologist, said in a statement.
Since November, laboratories in California have increasingly detected the new variant. Santa Clara County found this when he studied positive COVID-19 samples from across the country. Officials said the variant was found among members of the community and in a number of major outbreaks, including outbreaks where many people have been exposed to the virus.
“The fact that this variant has been identified in several major outbreaks in our country is a red flag and needs to be further investigated,” said Dr. Sara Cody, the Santa Clara County health officer, said in the statement. “This virus continues to mutate and adapt, and we can not guard.”
Cody says the distribution of the variant “emphasizes the need for everyone to follow all preventive measures and be vaccinated as soon as the vaccine is offered.”
In addition to San Francisco and Santa Clara, the latest variant has been found in the counties of Humboldt, Lake, Los Angeles, Mono, Monterey, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and San Luis Obispo. Officials do not yet know how common the variant is, because genomic sequences do not occur equally in the country.
Dr. Charles Chiu, a virologist and professor of laboratory medicine at UCSF, has sequenced COVID-19 samples from different provinces in California. He finds the variant in increasing number of cases.
‘Now that we know that this variant is increasing in our local communities, we prioritize it for study. “Researchers from UCSF and elsewhere will now be able to perform the critical laboratory experiments to determine if this virus is more contagious or affects vaccine performance,” Chiu said in a statement.
While officials are racing to learn more about the variant – and to constantly fight high COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations – they are urging Californians to do everything possible to reduce the spread of the virus. This includes staying home, except for essential activities, and wearing a mask when leaving the house.
JD Morris is a staff writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @thejdmorris