California Governor Gavin Newsom said the state on Tuesday discovered the first variants of the virus in New York in southern California. He did not specify where the cases were found.
The New York variant has spread rapidly in recent days, with more than 700 cases – mostly on the East Coast – confirmed since it was first detected in November. Like other variants, the New York variety is believed to be more easily transmitted from person to person, but federal authorities, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, have warned that the variant could be more resistant to current COVID vaccines.
While painting a rosy picture of California’s work controlling the spread of Covid-19, Newsom again preached continued surveillance and wearing masks, despite Texas and Mississippi suspending such mandates, noting that another variant of the virus was found in the state.
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“We are making progress, but … it is not a mission accomplished,” Newsom said during a visit to Long Beach. “And as we make the transition over the next 90 to 100 days to get to where the president and others have assured us that we will be – and this is an abundance structure with regard to vaccines and we start to reopen our businesses more quickly and our schools – we must be aware of these variants. “
“That is why it is essential and mandatory that we do not let our guard down, in addition, we remove our masks when it comes to addressing the transmissibility of this disease that is still claiming thousands of lives every day – hundreds of lives lost every day here in the state of California, ”said Newsom. “It is a deadly disease. It is not a spring break. He hasn’t taken a day off since that time, last year.
While Newsom was speaking, Los Angeles County’s director of public health, Barbara Ferrer, omitted any mention of the NY variant while examining the list of people in action in the region.
Ferrer said the county almost doubled the (still small) number of cases of variants discovered in the UK, one case of the Brazilian variant, no case of the South African variant and, most importantly, 239 cases of the so-called West Coast variants. She noted that 239 were in 679 samples tested.
“We are going to defeat him. Let’s turn the proverbial page. We are doing this, but we will maintain our vigilance while we work and obtain collective immunity. “
Newsom noted that on Wednesday, the test’s positivity rate in the state dropped to 2.2%, noting that there are “only a few states in America with lower positivity rates than California.”
The City News Service contributed to this report.