Another variant of COVID-19 is spreading through California, including the bay area, where it has been linked to several major outbreaks, public health officials warned on Sunday.
The variant, which is labeled L452R, is different from the highly transmissible B.1.1.7 variant that was first found in the UK.
The counties of 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 countries, and has been increasingly registered in viral genomic sequencing in several counties, officials said.
Dr. Sara Cody, a public health officer in Santa Clara County, said the variant was identified in a massive outbreak in the Kaiser Permanente emergency room in San Jose, which left dozens of people sick and killed. 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 in the peak-shaped protein that the coronavirus uses to infect cells.
“It is too early to know if this variant will spread more quickly than others, but it certainly reinforces the need for all Californians to wear masks and reduce coexistence with people outside their immediate homes to help slow the spread of the virus,” Dr Erica Pan, an epidemiologist from the state of California, said in a statement.
Since November, California laboratories have increasingly detected the new variant. Santa Clara County found him while studying positive COVID-19 specimens across the county. The variant was found among community members and in “several large outbreaks, including outbreaks in which a large number of exposed people contracted the virus,” officials said.
“The fact that this variant has been identified in several major outbreaks in our county is a red flag and should be investigated in more detail,” said Dr. Sara Cody, Santa Clara County health officer, in the statement. “This virus continues to undergo mutation and adaptation, and we cannot let our guard down.”
Cody said the spread of the variant “underscores the need for everyone to follow all preventive measures and be vaccinated as soon as they receive the vaccine.”
In addition to the counties of San Francisco and Santa Clara, the latter variant was found in Humboldt, Lake, Los Angeles, Mono, Monterey, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and San Luis Obispo counties. The authorities still do not know how prevalent the variant is because genomic sequencing is not happening equally across the country.
Dr. Charles Chiu, virologist and professor of laboratory medicine at UCSF, is sequencing COVID-19 specimens from several California counties. He is finding the variant in an increasing number of cases.
“Now that we know that this variant is increasing in our local communities, we are prioritizing its study. Researchers at UCSF and elsewhere will now be able to conduct critical laboratory experiments to determine whether or not this virus is more infectious or affects vaccine performance, ”said Chiu in a statement.
As officials rush to learn more about the variant – and to continually fight COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations – they are asking Californians to do everything possible to reduce the spread of the virus. This includes staying at home, except for essential activities, and wearing a mask when leaving the house.
JD Morris is a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @thejdmorris