California identified its first cases of a worrying variant of the coronavirus, first discovered in South Africa. The variant, known as B.1.351, has been confirmed in the San Francisco Bay area, California. Governor Gavin Newsom announced this week.
Newsom, during a news conference on Wednesday, said that two cases were identified, one in Alameda County and one in Santa Clara County, the Los Angeles Times reported.
No other details were provided at the time, and it was not immediately clear how the cases were identified, although other states that announced cases of variants did so through routine genome sequencing of positive coronavirus samples.
When Newsom announced the state’s first cases, they had only been identified “a few hours ago,” he said at the time, according to the newspaper.
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A California Department of Public Health spokesman did not immediately return Fox News’s request for additional information on Thursday.
So far, the variant has been detected in some states, including South Carolina, the first state to report cases of the South African variant in the US, as well as in Texas, Maryland and Virginia.
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Variant B.1.351 is more transmissible than other strains of coronavirus and is probably more virulent, meaning that it can cause more serious illnesses in those who contract it.
Although experts expressed confidence that the recently approved vaccines will remain effective against the variants, the South African variant, in particular, has been shown to decrease the vaccine’s effectiveness. While some drug sponsors are working to create varying booster doses, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is simultaneously working on plans to help guide newly adjusted vaccines, drugs and diagnostics for faster regulatory approval.
Fox News’s Kayla Rivas contributed to this report.