First case in California of the Brazilian variant COVID-19 found in San Bernardino County

The first case in California of a COVID-19 variant first discovered in Brazil earlier this year was detected in San Bernardino over the weekend, county officials said.

The California Department of Public Health alerted the county to the case Saturday after it was detected in a positive test sample collected on March 2, according to David Wert, San Bernardino County public information officer.

Health officials are now investigating how the resident, a man in his 40s, may have been exposed to the variant. The man – who has not been vaccinated – is isolated at home, according to officials.

“We are taking immediate and aggressive steps to contact the trace and contain the virus and we are working with the CDPH on expanding the entire genomic sequencing to identify more cases,” Drs. Michael S. Sequeira, county health officer. “Slowing the spread of the disease and minimizing the spread of all variants is possible through contact tracking, strategic quarantine with masking and social distancing, and, most importantly, vaccination.”

The “Brazilian” variant P.1 is believed to be more contagious than the most common strain of the virus.