Twenty-four confirmed and four probable cases of the most contagious strain of SARS-CoV2, the virus that causes COVID-19, have been identified in San Diego County, the Health and Human Services Agency announced today .
New cases of the variant that emerged in the UK, known as B.1.1.7, bring the region’s total to 32. Sixteen are men and 16 are women. The new total includes 28 confirmed cases by whole genome sequencing and four probable cases that are directly related to the confirmed cases and that have positive diagnostic tests of nucleic acid, but which are not yet sequenced.
Two dozen new variant cases were confirmed on Jan. 4 from specimens collected Dec. 27-31 and tested at the San Diego-based Helix lab and its partner Illumina as part of a surveillance project of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
There was no COVID-19 death related to the variant, but one woman had to be hospitalized. He is now at home recovering.
The 24 recently confirmed patients are believed to have no history of travel and come from 19 different homes, but research and contact follow-up are ongoing.
New cases have been identified in San Diego, Chula Vista, La Mesa and Lakeside. The cases are in various age groups. Although the four youngest cases are under 10 years old and the oldest is over 70 years old, the average age of the cases varying to date is 36 years, the same as the overall average of all confirmed cases. in the county so far.
“The fact that these cases have been identified in various parts of the region shows that this strain of the virus could spread quickly,” said Wilma Wooten, MD, MPH county public health officer. “People should take extra precautions to prevent the spread and spread of COVID-19, especially this variant, which research has shown is more contagious.”
The variant was first identified on Dec. 30 in a 30-year-old man with no travel history. Three additional cases were announced on December 31st.
The county has asked all testing labs to have the ability to identify suspicious cases of the new strain that forward copies for genome sequencing to determine if they are really cases of the variant. Local doctors have also been asked to forward positive COVID-19 tests from patients with a history of travel to the UK or other places abroad where variants have been detected.
“We are doing everything we can to determine how quickly this new strain is spreading, especially because the daily count of cases in the region has increased dramatically in recent weeks,” Wooten said.
At the time, he believed the currently available vaccines would offer protection against emerging variants. Scientists continue to study new strains of the new coronavirus to determine its potential impact.
County health officials say San Diego should do the following now more than ever:
- Keep your distance from others and leave your home only for essential activities
- Wear a mask
- Wash your hands
- If you are sick, take the test and then stay home and isolate yourself
For more information on COVID-19, test sites, and vaccine distribution, visit www.coronavirus-sd.com.