Highly infectious British variant of coronavirus identified in California

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The highly infectious coronavirus variant originally found in Britain has been detected in California, Governor Gavin Newsom said on Wednesday, a day after the first known US case was documented in Colorado .

Newsom announced the first known case of the B.1.1.7 variant of the coronavirus in his state, identified in southern California, at the start of an online discussion about the COVID-19 pandemic with Dr Anthony Fauci, specialist in infectious diseases.

Newsom did not immediately provide more details, but Fauci said he was “not surprised,” adding that more cases of the variant would likely surface in California and other states.

The first US case of the so-called UK variant of the virus, which scientists believe to be more contagious than others previously identified but not more serious in the symptoms it causes, was announced by Colorado Governor Jared Polis on Tuesday. .

In a press conference on Wednesday, Polis described the infected patient in his state as a National Guard soldier in his 20s who had been assigned to help deal with a COVID outbreak at a county nursing home semi-rural Elbert, on the outskirts of Metro Denver.

The director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment told reporters that a second member of the National Guard may also have contracted the British variant, although the state is still awaiting final confirmation from the lab .

The new variant has also been detected in several European countries, as well as in Canada, Australia, India, South Korea and Japan, among others.

Although experts believe the newly approved COVID vaccines will be effective against the UK variant, the emergence of a more highly transmissible strain of the virus could make rapid vaccine rollout even more critical.

The US government began on Monday requiring all airline passengers arriving from Britain – including US citizens – to test negative for COVID-19 within 72 hours of departure.

The government could expand coronavirus testing requirements for international air travelers beyond Britain as early as next week, sources briefed on the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.