Governor Gavin Newsom announced on Wednesday that a variant COVID-19 first identified in South Africa was discovered in the bay area, with one case in Alameda County and another in Santa Clara County.
The Santa Clara County case involved an adult who traveled internationally, returned in mid-January and was quarantined, said Santa Clara County Public Health Officer, Dr. Sara Cody.
The person started to develop symptoms “several days” after coming back and getting tested. Health officials learned on Wednesday morning that it was discovered that the person had the variant based on the results of the genomic sequencing.
Governor Gavin Newsom announced on Wednesday that a variant COVID-19 first identified in South Africa was discovered in the bay area, with one case in Alameda County and another in Santa Clara County. Reports by Marianne Favro.
“The encouraging news on our side is that this person, upon returning, immediately went into quarantine,” said Cody. “Therefore, we know of no opportunity for further dissemination in our community.”
The case in Alameda County was a resident who was diagnosed with COVID-19 in January and later found out he had the variant. It was not immediately clear whether the person had recently traveled abroad.
“Our investigation is still ongoing, but we can say that this person is no longer infectious to others,” said Alameda County Health Officer Dr. Nicholas Moss.
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At this point, the two cases do not appear to be connected, said Cody.
In total, the state has less than 1,500 identified cases of different variants, Newsom said.
Scientists and health officials fear that the variants may be more contagious, less responsive to treatments and more likely to reinfect people who have already had the virus. The South Africa variant was first identified in the United States last month in South Carolina.
A new strain of COVID-19 has been detected in the bay area, one in Santa Clara County and one in Alameda County. So, how concerned should we be? Raj Mathai reports.
“The issue of mutations is what matters most,” said Newsom during a visit to Fresno, the latest in a series of stops across the state to highlight vaccination efforts.
Generally speaking, the state is making progress in controlling the virus. Less than 5% of people tested now have positive results, and cases of infection confirmed daily have dropped to about 8,400, from an increase of more than 50,000 a month ago, he said.
Newsom reported that more than 5 million doses of vaccine have been administered, but the state continues to face questions and criticism about the launch of the much-desired vaccines. The state plans to move next week from a county-led vaccination effort to a centralized approach administered by California’s Blue Shield. The state has not yet released details or the cost of the contract with the major health insurance company, although Newsom has said it will do so by the end of this week.
At an afternoon legislative hearing, two county health officials said the state’s current vaccine database is underestimating the number of vaccines administered, a development they fear could result in counties receiving fewer doses going forward, because it may seem that they are not using their doses quickly.
“The system is not broken, it just appears that it is because the doses administered are not showing up,” said Dr. Aimee Sisson, public health officer in Yolo County. The county has received 14,000 doses and has administered 10,400 to date, she said. But the state system says the county received 14,500 vaccines and gave out only 7,500.
Dr. Paul Simon, Los Angeles County Science Director, said his county received 1.2 million doses and administered 80% within four days of receipt. But he is not sure whether the state’s data system reflects these numbers.
Incomplete data is making it difficult to track how many doses are going to black and Latino residents who appear to be underserved, the two health officials said. Dr. Erica Pan, a state epidemiologist, gave an analysis of racial and ethnic vaccine data to a legislative panel in another state on Monday. But the state did not publicly disclose this information on its website.
State officials say the Blue Shield partnership will solve some of the data collection problems. The new centralized system will be designed to provide “more clarity, more transparency and more accountability” around the distribution of vaccines, said Newsom.
The Biden government is now giving the state a three-week forecast of how many doses of vaccine to expect, and the state is trying to give counties a similar forecast, he said.
“This is dynamic and, as you well know, we have had problems and starts over the past few months,” said Newsom.
Still, counties say they have no information on exactly how the new system will work. The municipality of Santa Clara wants to request an exemption from the use of the new state portal for residents to register for vaccines, called MyTurn, but the state will require that all municipalities use it. Orange County health officials said they did not want to ask people who have already applied for consultations in the county system to re-apply to the state.
The state plans to integrate county vaccination sites into the new system, said state information director Amy Tong.
Dr. Tomás Aragón, director of the California Department of Public Health, repeatedly acknowledged during the legislative hearing that the state’s vaccine approach needs to be improved.
“What we are doing now is not working,” said Rep. Jose Medina, a Democrat from Riverside. He said the launch so far has been “nothing short of chaotic”.
“We are totally in agreement with what you are saying,” replied Aragón.
In Fresno, however, Newsom received praise from local and state elected officials, as it did at similar events across the state this week. Democratic officials praised him for dealing with the virus in a clear attempt to refute criticism as a campaign to recall Newsom gains momentum. In contrast, a protester using a megaphone shouted “call Gavin” during the news conference.
“I don’t care if you are a Democrat or a Republican, but if you are healthy and safe,” Newsom responded when asked to respond to the recall effort.