COVID-19 Mutation Known as UK Variant Found in Sonoma County
Sonoma County health officials confirmed on Tuesday that a virus test sample sent to a California state lab has come up positive for the so called UK variant of the coronavirus.
The arrival of the UK variant was expected eventually, and now local health officials will work to determine who was infected, and to trace that person’s contacts.
Sonoma County, like most others in the state, has been sending testing samples to state and federal labs for weeks as part of a surveillance effort to keep track of new mutations.
Dr. Kismet Baldwin, Sonoma County’s deputy health officer, says she thinks it is likely that additional cases of the UK variant may be circulating in the community.
Studies of the variant have shown it to be more contagious than the original coronavirus strain, and health experts say its emergence is another reason to continue to accelerate vaccination of the public across California and the nation.
Already at least two other coronavirus mutations, the Brazilian and California variants, have been discovered in counties around the Bay Area.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, and well-known virus expert currently heading the Biden adminstration’s COVID-19 program, has said he is worried that the emergence of new variants could make the nation suseptible to another surge in cases and deaths later this spring.
He and he and other public health officials are urging rapid and widespread vaccination of the public to help keep that from taking place.
President Biden said today he believes all adults in the U.S. could be vaccinated by the end of May.
Author: newsofthenorthbay
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