CA Finds 1st Case Of Coronavirus Variant From India

San Francisco CA

04 April, 2021

7:30 PM

Description

CALIFORNIA — Another coronavirus variant has reportedly arrived in the Golden State. At least one case of the variant, first detected in India last month, was recently discovered by Stanford Researchers, according to multiple reports. Although the state has not reported the new mutant in its official variant tracker, researchers at Stanford University said the variant was found in a patient in the San Francisco Bay Area, NBC reported. Researchers believe it is the first case detected in the United States, Stanford Health Care spokesperson Lisa Kim told NBC. The recently detected variant is concerning to scientists because of its doubly mutated characteristics, which could make it more contagious, Dr. Rakesh Mishra, the director of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, told the Associated Press last month. Mishra said that these genetic tweaks could be of concern since they could help the virus spread more easily and escape the immune system. The variant, dubbed "Double Mutant" in India, reportedly has two mutations. One mutation has been found in a California variant, NBC reported. "It's just less forgiving," University of San Francisco's Dr. Peter Chin Hong told KTVU. "With the Indian variant you get the very very similar symptoms, the main difference is that it's much easier to transmit." But Hong also said that the variant first identified in the United Kingdom, B.1.1.7, is actually more transmissible. Recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention designated two homegrown West Coast strains — B.1.427 and B.1.429 — as "variants of concern." The two variants are about 20 percent more transmissible and were also found to significantly reduce the efficacy of some antibody treatments, the CDC said. As of April 1, there were 9,359 cases of these two variants that have been found in California. Public Health officials in the Golden State have consistently reminded residents that it is normal for viruses to mutate and that the available vaccines can still offer significant protection against hospitalizations and death. Getting most of the U.S. population vaccinated quickly will help slow the emergence of variants, experts have said. This is because a virus produces billions of copies within an infected person, and all it takes for a mutant to emerge is a copy that reproduces abnormally. "Anytime viruses replicate, they mutate. They're very inaccurate replicators," Dr. Kimberly Shriner, an infectious disease specialist at Huntington Hospital, told Patch last month. "If you're vaccinated, that's not going to happen, which means that not only does the vaccine protect you, but it protects against a virus generating new mutants that could be more dangerous for everybody else," another infectious disease expert, Dr. John Swartzberg of UC Berekely told Patch in a previous interview. Much of the research into the variants is preliminary, but cases still appear to be dropping in California, even as more contagious variants circulate. The state has administered more than 19 million vaccine doses to date. Gov. Gavin Newsom received his Johnson & Johnson vaccine shot on Thursday in Los Angeles as California's residents over 50 became eligible for inoculation. If you are 50 or older, please take the time, prepare for a vaccine," he said at a news conference in San Diego. "We're not going to get herd immunity, we're not going to get back that symbol to normalcy unless we get more people vaccinated." All Californians 16 and older will become eligible for a shot on April 15. The governor announced that the state would receive around 2.4 million vaccine doses next week, including 572,700 Johnson & Johnson single shots. Facing a major supply crisis, this will be the state's largest shipment yet as weekly allotments of vaccine have hovered around 1.8 million or less. "The only constraint is your willingness to get a vaccine, and that manufactured supply," Newsom said. Although worrying signs of increasing cases are appearing in other states, California reported a 1.7 percent positivity rate on Sunday. SEE ALSO: CA To Allow Indoor Events, Gatherings As Cases Near Record Low Coronavirus data in California as of Sunday: 3,580,351 cases have been confirmed to date. 2,400 new cases were confirmed Saturday. 1.7% is the 7-day positivity rate. 55,087,131 tests have been conducted in California. 58,513 COVID-19 deaths have been reported since the start of the pandemic.19,717,651 vaccine doses have been administered statewide.