Coronavirus:New variant of COVID-19 showing up in rising numbers across California

https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/01/17/coronavirus-new-variant-of-covid-19-showing-up-in-rising-numbers/

Coronavirus: New variant of COVID-19 showing up in rising numbers across California

By ELLIOTT ALMOND | ealmond@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: January 17, 2021 at 5:11 p.m. | UPDATED: January 18, 2021 at 3:41 a.m.

A new variant of the COVID-19 virus is appearing in a rapidly increasing number of cases, causing public health officials concern both in Santa Clara County and across California.

Officials from the state Department of Public Health, Santa Clara County and UC San Francisco announced Sunday that the variant has been found in recent outbreaks in the South Bay.
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The 452R variant, as it is known, was first identified last year. The latest variant is different from the B.1.1.7 variant, a more contagious strain first detected in the United Kingdom, according to the news release.

The 452R variant has been identified more frequently since November, officials said.
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Neither Cody nor other officials were immediately available to discuss whether the variant could specifically be linked to recent outbreaks at a Kaiser Permanente facility in San Jose, on the SJSU football team, and at Santa Clara County jails. In his interview, Chiu declined to specifically name any outbreaks, other than saying the ones described to him were “health care-associated.”

In addition to Santa Clara County, the 452R variant has been detected in Humboldt, Lake, Los Angeles, Mono, Monterey, Orange, Riverside, San Francisco, San Bernardino, San Diego and San Luis Obispo counties, according to officials.
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