As COVID-19 infections get out of control in Los Angeles County, authorities are investigating the potential spread of a new, more contagious strain

As COVID-19 infections get out of control in Los Angeles County, authorities are investigating the potential spread of a new, more contagious strain

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a person sitting at a table: Michelle Goldson, RN works inside the ICU at Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital on December 17, 2020 in Los Angeles. Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images


© Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Michelle Goldson, RN works within the ICU of Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital on December 17, 2020 in Los Angeles. Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

  • Los Angeles County is now testing a new, more transmissible strain of coronavirus, the Los Angeles Times reported.
  • The county has seen a huge increase in cases in recent weeks.
  • The new strain was first discovered in the United Kingdom. Experts said there was no indication that the new strain could cause more serious illnesses.
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With the increase in coronavirus cases in Los Angeles County, authorities are now working to test samples for the new most transmissible strain of coronavirus, the Los Angeles Times reported.

On Thursday, the county saw more than 13,600 new cases and set a new death record with 148 confirmed.

Earlier this week, a new strain of coronavirus was discovered in the UK.

The new strain could be up to 70% more transmissible, said UK Health Minister Matt Hancock.

Public health experts like Dr. Anthony Fauci said the new strain is likely to be in the United States already.

Gallery: This rare COVID symptom has doctors on alert (Best Life)

Coronavirus has caused a series of strange symptoms in patients, from loss of smell to brain fog. But now, a specific eye symptom connected to COVID puts doctors on alert. It is rare for an ophthalmologist to find a case of endophthalmitis, an eye infection that can lead to blindness. But Amelia Schrier, MD, professor of ophthalmology at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra University, recently reported seeing three cases of endophthalmitis in the two-month period. Notably, all three cases occurred in patients with COVID, putting ophthalmologists on high alert for a likely association between the two diseases. Read more about the symptoms of this rare eye infection that is connected to COVID and for another important symptom of COVID, see This is how to know if your cough is COVID, doctors say. Chrier is now trying to raise awareness among other medical professionals that this particular eye infection may be a symptom of COVID.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if I was already here,” said Fauci in an interview with PBS NewsHour. “When we start looking, we’ll find it.”

However, some experts said there is no indication that the new strain will cause more serious illnesses or be more deadly.

Barbara Ferrer, director of public health for LA County, said a laboratory has started gene sequencing to test virus samples, but the results will not be available for about a week.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said the new variant could contribute to the spread of the virus so high. Many public health experts and officials said the spread was due in part to families defying public health guidelines to meet while on vacation.

“It happened with devastating speed,” Garcetti told the Times. “Everyone I talked to said that this acceleration was beyond any model and any expectation, so people ask, ‘What broke?’ and I have to think that it is partly the tension that existed. “

The Times also reported that the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health also sent a memo on Thursday to aks laboratories to examine recent data from positive coronavirus tests for a specific gene detection pattern.

On Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also announced that travelers flying from the UK to the U.S. will have to test negative for COVID-19 three days after the flight. They stopped near a total travel ban, as some other countries did.

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