As cases of COVID-19 begin to surge once again in many parts of the country, California has managed to keep its case count relatively flat.
UCSF Professor of epidemiology Dr. George Rutherford said California has a lot of things going for it in its fight against COVID-19.
But what could be the golden state’s real ace in the hole?
“We have these two California variants now, called West Coast variants,” Rutherford told KCBS Radio.
The home-grown variants are often discussed as a potential danger.
“The West Coast variants are a little bit more transmissible, maybe 20% more transmissible,” Rutherford said.
Nevertheless, he noted that they seem to have an upside. They are likely outcompeting other even more dangerous strains of the virus and preventing those strains from gaining a foothold in California.
“Yeah, I mean it’s just right out of Darwin 101 – this could be the fish in the Galapagos, right?” Rutherford said. “But that’s what seems to be happening. Now, it may not hold.”
Among the most concerning variants so far is one which originated in the UK and seems to be driving the outbreaks in the Midwest.
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