Alameda County on Tuesday reported six confirmed or suspected cases of a new highly infectious variant of the coronavirus that was discovered in the United Kingdom.
The cases are the first of this variant linked to a specific Bay Area county. Stanford scientists identified a handful of cases in the region last week, but declined to say what counties they were from.
The variant, known as B.1.1.7, has been identified in other parts of the state, mainly in southern California, and 127 cases have been reported in California as of Monday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Across the country, 541 cases of the variant were reported in 33 states.
But public health officials say the variant is probably much more widespread and has not yet been identified due to a lack of testing and genetic sequencing. They expect the numbers to increase as the state and country increase surveillance for new variants.
“What is happening now is that laboratories are doing more and more sequencing than before,” said Dr. Nicholas Moss, Alameda County health officer. “People have increased this effort.”
Moss noted that the new variants so far do not appear to be interfering with the decline in the number of cases and hospitalizations in the region as the winter surge continues to subside. But he and other public health experts say they fear that variants – whether those that are already in circulation or others that have not yet emerged or have been identified – could lead to new waves of disease in the coming months.
“Whatever is going on with these variants, it hasn’t changed our trajectory yet. But it alerts us based on what we see in other parts of the world, ”he said. “We are happy to be in a period when we can reopen some things again and we are grateful to have vaccines, but we need to be prepared for future outbreaks.”
The six Alameda County cases are under investigation, Moss said. He still had no information on whether any of the individuals had traveled recently, but he believes everyone was infected in the community.
He said the county also identified cases of the variant identified in California earlier this month, known as B.1.429. Alameda County has yet to find cases of the variants identified in South Africa or Brazil, both of which are of concern because they may partially avoid vaccines.
The UK variant is believed to be about 50% more infectious than the original virus and therefore capable of spreading more quickly and causing more disease. It can also cause more serious illnesses, although more research needs to be done.
Moss said he was not surprised to find variants B.1.1.7 and B.1.429 in Alameda County, considering how many cases have been reported in other parts of the state.
“Any variant detected in any of California’s largest counties is a good bet that it is already there,” he said. “Even with travel restrictions and requests to stay at home, our populations are interconnected.”
Erin Allday is a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @erinallday