MARTINEZ, California. – The laboratory’s results revealed the first two known cases of the UK’s highly infectious variant in Contra Costa County, health officials announced on Tuesday.
Variant B.1.117, dubbed the United Kingdom variant, because it is believed to have originated in the United Kingdom, is more contagious than others and possibly more deadly.
The presence of UK variants was discovered as part of laboratory surveillance work during the pandemic.
A person infected with the UK variant began to experience common symptoms of COVID-19, such as coughing and muscle pain, and was able to isolate at home, officials said. The other resident of Contra Costa County reported having several symptoms, including runny nose, cough, headache and loss of smell and taste.
“This is a reminder that, while COVID numbers are falling, we need to continue using all of our tools to avoid another sudden increase: wear masks in public, continue physical distance, avoid large indoor meetings and be vaccinated when yours instead, “county health officer, Dr. Chris Farnitano, said in a statement.
Although these are the first confirmed cases of the UK variant in Contra Costa, Farnitano said that there are probably many more in the community that have not been detected. In fact, close to Florida and Michigan, California is the state with the third largest number of confirmed cases of UK variant cases in the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“We cannot say how widespread it is in Contra Costa, but it is worrying,” he said.
The South African variant, another worrying COVID variant, has yet to be detected in Contra Costa County, officials said. This variant has already been found in the Bay Area, in the municipalities of Alameda and Santa Clara.
Initial studies suggest that the three COVID vaccines in the United States provide strong protection against the United Kingdom variant and others.