California health officials have detected a strain of the coronavirus known as the "New York variant," the latest in a growing group of mutations discovered in the Golden State.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday the strain was found for the first time in two Southern California cases on Tuesday. He didn't, however, share an exact location. The state has also uncovered over 5,500 cases of the West Coast variant.
"The virus does not take spring break off," he said, speaking to reporters while visiting a COVID-19 vaccination site in Long Beach. "This disease is taking thousands of lives every single day."
So far, cases of the West Coast, UK, South Africa and Brazil variants have been reported in the Bay Area. The West Coast variant has been observed as a particularly contagious strain, likely already the dominant one in California.
The New York strain, identified as B.1.526, was first detected last month in New York by groups of researchers at CalTech and Columbia University. The variant started appearing in city samples in November and by last month, was observed in 27 percent of city viral sequences in a database.
While the mutation shares similarities with the South Africa variant, it’s not yet known if it’s more contagious or deadly.
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