The first case of Brazilian variant of COVID-19 in California found in San Bernardino County

California’s first case of a variant of COVID-19 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 on Saturday after it was detected in a positive test sample collected on March 2, San Bernardino County information officer David Wert said in a statement.

Health officials are currently investigating how the resident, a male in his forties, could have been exposed to the variant. The man – who has not been vaccinated – is self-isolating at home, officials say.

“We are taking immediate and aggressive action to contact the trace and contain the virus and we are working with the CDPH to expand full genomic sequencing to identify more cases,” said Dr Michael S. Sequeira, County Health Officer . “Slowing the spread of the disease and minimizing the spread of all variants is doable with contact tracing, strategic quarantine with masking and social distancing, and most importantly vaccination.”

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