Local public health officials reported on Tuesday that the British variant of the coronavirus, a more contagious strain of the infectious disease, was detected in Sonoma County.
The California Department of Public Health notified county officials on Monday that the mutation was detected in a COVID-19 test sample that the county sent to a state laboratory for genetic analysis.
“This is the first time that we have been notified that one of the variants is in Sonoma County,” said Dr. Kismet Baldwin, deputy county health officer. “I don’t think it is unlikely that there will be more cases at this point.”
Baldwin said public health researchers should soon have more information about the person to whom the variant strain is connected, including travel history and possible exposure to others.
Sonoma County health officials waited for weeks that variants of COVID-19 would be found locally, as the coronavirus is constantly mutating, a natural course for viruses.
The county is participating in state and federal surveillance programs to identify variants of the coronavirus before it can spread, infect and kill many residents. Both efforts are in their infancy.
After a year of battling the ongoing pandemic, there is now a race to vaccinate as many county residents as possible, knowing that a powerful variant may be lurking. This total effort is being replicated in other parts of California and in many areas of the country and the world.
The United Kingdom variant, B.1.1.7, which was first detected in the United Kingdom, was previously detected in southern California. Another variant from South Africa, B.1.351, shares some characteristics with the variant from the United Kingdom, being considered more contagious.
Another variant, P. 1, identified in mid-January among Japanese who traveled to Brazil, appeared in the Bay Area. This variant is also considered to be more contagious. A local variant, known as the California variant, B. 1429, has been detected in Marin and Lake counties.
Since last month, county health officials have also been sending samples of COVID-19 to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for analysis to detect any variants.
Baldwin said the county has so far received no confirmation of variants discovered in any local samples sent to the CDC.
You can contact editor Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or [email protected]. On Twitter @pressreno.