Twenty-four confirmed cases and four probable cases of the more contagious strain of SARS-CoV2, the virus that causes COVID-19, have been identified in San Diego County, the Agency for Health and Human Services announced today.
The new cases of the UK variant, known as B.1.1.7, bring the total for the region to 32. Sixteen are men and 16 are women. The new total includes 28 cases confirmed by whole genome sequencing and four probable cases that are directly related to the confirmed cases and have positive nucleic acid diagnostic tests, but are not yet sequenced.
Two dozen new case variants were confirmed on Jan. 4 from specimens collected Dec. 27 through Dec. 31 and tested at Helix Lab in San Diego and its partner Illumina in a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention surveillance project.
There were no COVID-19 deaths related to the variant, but a woman had to be hospitalized. He is now home in recovery.
It is believed that the 24 newly confirmed patients have no travel history and come from 19 different households, but the investigation and follow-up of contacts are ongoing.
New cases have been identified in San Diego, Chula Vista, La Mesa and Lakeside. The cases fall into several age groups. While the four young cases are under 10 years old and the oldest is over 70 years old, the average age of the case variants so far is 36 years, as well as the general average for all confirmed cases in the county up to present.
The fact that these cases have been identified in several 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 COVID-19 from being obtained and spread, especially this variant, which research has shown is more contagious.”
The variant was first identified on December 30 in a 30-year-old man with no travel history. Three additional cases were announced on 31 December.
The county has asked all test labs that have the ability to identify suspicious cases of the new strain to submit genome sequencing specimens to determine if they are indeed variant cases. Local physicians were also asked to pass positive COVID-19 tests from patients with a history of travel to the United Kingdom or other places abroad where variants were detected.
“We are doing everything we can to determine how quickly this new strain is spreading, especially as the daily number of cases in the region has increased dramatically in recent weeks,” Wooten said.
At the time, it was believed that the vaccines currently available would provide protection against new variants. Scientists continue to study the new strains of the new coronavirus to determine their potential impact.
County health officials say San Diegans should do the following more than ever:
- Keep your distance from others and leave the household only for essential activities
- He’s wearing a mask
- Wash your hands
- If you are sick, take the test, then stay home and isolate yourself
For more information on COVID-19, test locations and vaccine distribution, visit www.coronavirus-sd.com.