Name: More contagious South African coronavirus strain found in Santa Clara and Alameda counties
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More contagious South African coronavirus strain found in Santa Clara and Alameda counties

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By | and | | Bay Area News GroupThe worrisome South African strain of coronavirus, which appears to be more contagious and more resistant to some vaccines, has surfaced in California, and the first two cases are Bay Area residents.Scientists at Stanford University detected two cases of the variant, known as the B.1.351 — one in Santa Clara County and one in Alameda County — in tests on Tuesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom said during a news conference in Fresno. It is not clear how the people became infected.First discovered in South Africa in October, the variant now has been found in more than 30 other countries. It was first detected in the United States in January in South Carolina and is in at least four states, although only a handful of cases have been found.Experts say the South African strain is up to 50% more contagious than other variants. The South African strain does not appear to be more deadly, however,Its emergence is raising concerns about how much protection current vaccines will offer against the strain. Early research suggests that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines do work against it but that their effectiveness may be somewhat reduced, compared to other strains.Even if a vaccine is less powerful against the variant, it will still protect people from hospitalization or death, according to clinical trial data. But research suggests that immunity may not last as long or might not reduce transmission.“It’s concerning. It’s significant if these cases represent true community transmission,” said Dr. George Rutherford, an epidemiologist at UC San Francisco. “This needs to be intensively investigated.”Rutherford said that as the coronavirus continues to mutate, California, the U.S. and the world are in a race to vaccinate people as quickly as possible to slow the spread.“People should be avoiding getting infected just like we’ve always said,” Rutherford said. “If you have risk factors, if you are older, if you are going into a crowd, like the supermarket, I’d definitely wear two masks. And get vaccinated when your turn comes.”Santa Clara County Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody said that the affected person in Santa Clara County is an adult who traveled internationally in mid-January, but Cody didn’t say where. The person showed symptoms after returning and quarantined at home for 10 days, as county rules require. The person was not hospitalized and has recovered, she said. Another person who lives in the household also became ill and quarantined but didn’t get tested.“The encouraging news from our end is that this person, upon returning immediately quarantined,” Cody said. “We don’t know of any opportunities for further spread in our community.”Less information was released about the Alameda County case. Dr. Nicholas Moss, Alameda County health officer, said the person is “no longer infectious to others” but offered no other details.Both Cody and Moss said that COVID cases overall are trending down. But they cautioned that numbers are still above pre-Thanksgiving levels, and that if Bay Area residents let their guard down, there could be another surge in March or April due to the new, more contagious variants.“We should be prepared that if things start moving in the opposite direction, we might have to increase restrictions again,” Moss said.For now, California continues to make steady progress overall in the pandemic. A month ago, the state was reporting nearly 50,000 new COVID cases a day. Now there are 8,400. The number of people hospitalized statewide with COVID is down 34% compared to two weeks ago, and ICU cases are down 28%.Large new vaccination centers are opening at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, the Oakland Coliseum, Petco Park in San Diego and other locations. The statewide positivity rate, 13.9% two weeks ago, has dropped to 4.8%.“We are seeing progress in every category,” Newsom said, adding that California is receiving 1 million doses of vaccine a week from the federal government and needs more.As of Wednesday, 5.1 million Californians have received at least one dose. The state ranks in vaccinations per capita, ahead of most other large states, including New York, Pennsylvania, Texas and Ohio. To achieve herd immunity and end the spread, however, about 75% of people, or 30 million Californians, need shots, experts have said.Finding viral variants and quickly identifying new mutations is critical to controlling the pandemic.The Bay Area cases were found by Stanford’s Clinical Virology Laboratory, which discovered the two cases in 1,708 specimens screened, said Dr. Ben Pinsky, medical director of the laboratory.Stanford uses a technology called reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, or RT-PCR. That screening seeks the two mutations that are characteristic of this variant. It also seeks mutations linked to other variants. Their identity was confirmed through whole genome sequencing.“We should expect the virus will continue to adapt and change,” Cody said. “So it is important that we continue to do everything we can to prevent every opportunity for it to spread.”Although the South African variant accounts for just a fraction of the world’s COVID-19 infections, scientists already are studying how to improve vaccines to better target it.On Tuesday, researchers at the University of Texas reported that the Pfizer vaccine is effective in stopping the South African strain and also another mutation of the virus called the United Kingdom variant. Last month, officials at Moderna announced their vaccine protects against the South African and UK variants.But the South African government halted its rollout Sunday of a third vaccine, made by AstraZeneca, after early studies found it provides only “minimal protection” against the new variant. Scientists from AstraZeneca say they are updating their vaccine to boost its ability to fight the new strain. The AstraZeneca vaccine is not yet approved for use in the United States.On Wednesday, South African health officials said they will begin using the Johnson &amp; Johnson vaccine instead. Tests showed that vaccine, which is pending approval in the United States and expected to be given the green light later this month, was 57% effective at preventing moderate to severe COVID-19 against the South African variant, and 85% effective at preventing severe disease.We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. We reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.Get Morning Report and other email newslettersFollow UsMost PopularClose

By | and | | Bay Area News GroupThe worrisome South African strain of coronavirus, which appears to be more contagious and more resistant to some vaccines, has surfaced in California, and the first two cases are Bay Area residents.Scientists at Stanford University detected two cases of the variant, known as the B.1.351 — one in Santa Clara County and one in Alameda County — in tests on Tuesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom said during a news conference in Fresno. It is not clear how the people became infected.First discovered in South Africa in October, the variant now has been found in more than 30...

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Latest Silicon Valley and San Francisco Bay Area news from reporters & columnists at The Mercury News.

More contagious South African coronavirus strain found in Santa Clara and Alameda counties

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