California identifies second case of coronavirus variant in the United States

California announced Wednesday the second confirmed case in the United States of the new and apparently more contagious variant of the coronavirus, offering a strong indication that the infection is spreading more widely in the North American country.

The governor Gavin Newsom announced the infection found in Southern California during an online conversation with Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases.

“I don’t think Californians should think this is weird. It is to be expected “Fauci said.

Newsom did not provide details about the infected person.

The announcement came 24 hours after the first US case of the variant was reported in Colorado.

That person was identified Wednesday as a member of the Colorado National Guard who had been dispatched to help out at a nursing home struggling with an outbreak. Health officials said a second member of the Guard might have it as well.

The cases sparked a series of questions about how the version circulating in England made it to the United States and whether it is too late to stop it now, and leading experts say it is probably already spreading to other parts of the republic.

El director del Scripps Research Translational Institute, Eric TopolHe noted that the United States performs much less genetic sequencing of virus samples to discover variants than other developed nations, and therefore was likely slow to detect this new mutation.

The two Guardsmen had been dispatched Dec. 23 to work at the Good Samaritan Society’s nursing home in the small town of Simla, in a mostly rural area about 90 miles from Denver, the doctor said. Rachel Herlihy, state epidemiologist.

Nasal swab samples taken from the two as part of the Guard’s routine coronavirus tests were sent to the state laboratory, which began looking for the variant after its spread in Britain was announced earlier this month, he said. Herlihy. Samples from nursing home staff and residents are also being tested for the variant in the laboratory, but no evidence of it has been found so far, he said.

The Colorado case announced Tuesday involves a man in his 20s who had not recently traveled, authorities said. He has mild symptoms and is in isolation at his home near Denver, while the person with the suspected case is in isolation at a Colorado hotel while further genetic testing is performed on his sample, authorities said.

The nursing home said it is working closely with the state and also hopes to start vaccines next week.

Several states, including California, Massachusetts and Delaware, are also testing suspicious virus samples for the variant, the doctor said. Greg Armstrong, who directs genetic sequencing at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In addition, he noted that the CDC is working with a national laboratory that collects samples from across the country to expand that search, and results are expected in a few days.

The discovery in Colorado has added urgency to the nation’s vaccination campaign against COVID-19, which has killed more than 340,000 people in the United States.

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