California has produced its own COVID variant. That’s according to breaking news in New York Times of January 19, 2021. This time researchers may have stumbled on it fairly early while tracing the UK variant. But evidence suggests it’s already too late to ask is a new California variant driving the surge. That’s because it showed up in half the samples in Los Angeles last week
How Did the California Variant Crack Their Defenses?
Mutation is a natural thing, according to pathogen evolution specialist Dr. Lucy van Dorp writing for BBC. Indeed, it is the basis for evolution theory, and the science behind genetically modified crops. Van Dorp says ‘thousands of mutations have arisen since China first identified COVID-19′. Thankfully, ‘the vast majority of variants are ‘passengers’ and will have little impact’.
But once in a while a more impactful one develops, and this appears to be what happened in California. This particular variant first showed in July in small numbers. Then it appears to have gone dormant until November, when we now know it began to quickly spread. We have therefore reached the point where the new California variant is driving a surge.
That’s Right: A New California Variant Is Driving a Surge
‘It’s our own problem’ says Jasmine Plummer, research scientist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. ‘It didn’t cross over from Europe, it really originated here. And it had the chance to start to emerge and surge over the holiday period.’
While America was preoccupied elsewhere, the mutant virus CAL.20C traveled widely thanks to human intervention. Small quantities are in Arizona, Connecticut, Maryland, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. As well as District of Columbia where it may also be resting before starting a surge.
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