Click to Translate to English Click to Translate to French  Click to Translate to Spanish  Click to Translate to German  Click to Translate to Italian  Click to Translate to Japanese  Click to Translate to Chinese Simplified  Click to Translate to Korean  Click to Translate to Arabic  Click to Translate to Russian  Click to Translate to Portuguese  Click to Translate to Myanmar (Burmese)

PANDEMIC ALERT LEVEL
123456
Forum Home Forum Home > Main Forums > Latest News
  New Posts New Posts RSS Feed - California variant of Covid
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Events   Register Register  Login Login

Now tracking the new emerging South Africa Omicron Variant

California variant of Covid

 Post Reply Post Reply
Author
Message
KiwiMum View Drop Down
Moderator
Moderator
Avatar

Joined: May 29 2013
Status: Offline
Points: 29640
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote KiwiMum Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: California variant of Covid
    Posted: January 25 2021 at 12:17pm

This article appears in today Telegraph in the UK. I've cut and pasted the contents.


 

California fears homegrown strain to blame for sudden surge

Scientists warn variant should 'be taken very seriously' as it may be more contagious and render the vaccine less effective

  

Two people watch over the LA Dodgers stadium which is now a vaccination cetnre
 The LA Dodgers stadium has been turned into a vaccination centre   Credit: Marcio Jose Sanchez /AP 

California appears to be battling a homegrown coronavirus strain which could be to blame for the recent surge and mounting death toll that has gripped the Golden State. 

Scientists spotted a mutation, named B.1.426, while looking to see whether the highly transmissible United Kingdom variant had taken hold on the West coast of the United States. 

The mutation occurs in the spike protein, the part of the virus that attaches itself to cells and causes illness, and the part targeted by Covid-19 vaccines.

It did not cause alarm when it was first recorded in July, until it began tearing through the populations in both Northern and Southern California during late November and December. 

Now, two separate laboratories now believe that the acceleration in occurrences of the new variant may be to blame for California’s deadly Thanksgiving and Christmas surge because of its troubling mutations. 

California is inching toward a crisis, with more than 3.1m cases and at least 36,790 deaths -  figure that has doubled in less than three months. Los Angeles has emerged as one of America’s Covid-19 hotspots with two-thirds of its cases added since the beginning of November.

Scientists increasingly believe B.1.426 may allow the virus to pass itself on with up to 50pc more efficiency, similarly to the British variant. Researchers are still working to understand if the California strain will be less effective against vaccines, as may be the case with the E484K strain found in South Africa. 

Dr Charles Chiu, who discovered the variant in his laboratory at University College San Francisco, told the Telegraph: "We should treat this new variant seriously."

His data found that its prevalence had grown from 3.8pc of cases to 25pc of cases in Northern California in November, and had been linked to several outbreaks which had mutations that bore similarity to the UK and South African variant. 

Dr Chiu, who was careful to add that the spike may be down to increased gatherings rather than the mutation, said that if they had not been searching for the UK strain, they “could have missed this at every level”. 


Those who got it wrong, for whatever reason, may feel defensive and retrench into a position that doesnโ€™t accord with the facts.
Back to Top
ksc View Drop Down
Adviser Group
Adviser Group


Joined: February 09 2020
Status: Offline
Points: 10995
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ksc Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 25 2021 at 2:16pm

JUST IN: California said Monday it is lifting a regional order that called on residents to stay home except for "essential activities," as the state cited "positive signs" about the spread of COVID-19

 

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/california-lifts-regional-stay-at-home-order-amid-positive-signs-of-slower-spread

Back to Top
carbon20 View Drop Down
Moderator
Moderator
Avatar

Joined: April 08 2006
Location: West Australia
Status: Offline
Points: 65816
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote carbon20 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 25 2021 at 2:35pm

Haven't the people  who issue these "relax" instructions 

Realised  the moment  you do that cases seem to explode........

This is not going  away until everyone is vaccinated.......

Round  and round   just like headless chickens........

Ignorance  abounds.......

Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.๐Ÿ––

Marcus Aurelius
Back to Top
carbon20 View Drop Down
Moderator
Moderator
Avatar

Joined: April 08 2006
Location: West Australia
Status: Offline
Points: 65816
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote carbon20 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 25 2021 at 4:07pm

BBC News - Covid: 'Not a moment to ease measures,' says Matt Hancock

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55804276

Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.๐Ÿ––

Marcus Aurelius
Back to Top
EdwinSm, View Drop Down
Moderator
Moderator


Joined: April 03 2013
Status: Offline
Points: 24065
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote EdwinSm, Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 25 2021 at 10:42pm

"It did not cause alarm when it was first recorded in July " - so this one variant has had seven months to circulate before a warning was given.      Not good news.

Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply
  Share Topic   

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down