Another New COVID Strain Is in the US

Health authorities in California are working quickly to assess the threat
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 18, 2021 2:08 PM CST
Yet Another New Strain Pops Up in California
National Guardsmen help move COVID victims into temporary storage at the LA County Medical Examiner-Coroner Office's in Los Angeles last week.   (LA County Dept. of Medical Examiner-Coroner via AP, File)

The virus continues to mutate quickly. Anyone tracking the news is familiar with the new UK strain that is moving around the globe and threatens to become the dominant strain in the US soon. Now, health authorities in California have identified yet another strain that has popped up in about a dozen counties, reports the Los Angeles Times. Coverage on that and more:

  • California strain: The variant has been linked to large outbreaks in Santa Clara County and smaller outbreaks elsewhere. It's still too early to say whether the new strain is more contagious or more lethal than the first forms of COVID that emerged, but studies on that are being prioritized. Bottom line: "This virus continues to mutate and adapt, and we cannot let down our guard," says Dr. Sara Cody, Santa Clara County health officer.

  • A lament: In a New York Times op-ed, Ezra Klein runs through the coming COVID changes under the Biden administration. They include plans to get vaccinations organized on a mass scale, along with expanded testing and contract tracing. It's all pretty basic stuff, he writes, which has him astonished that the Trump administration hasn't done these things yet. "That it is possible for Joe Biden and his team to release a plan this straightforward is the most damning indictment of the Trump administration’s coronavirus response imaginable."
  • Hopeful trend: US deaths are about to pass 400,000, but one medical expert spies a positive trend in the new data as well. "Over the last four days for the first time in months, we've seen a steady decline ... a thousand per day fewer hospitalizations in the United States," Dr. Jonathan Reiner of George Washington University tells CNN. "We've seen the same trend in new cases." The next two months will likely be brutal, he adds, "but there is a ray of sunshine" as vaccinations continue.
  • Hopeful, II: In "The Morning" newsletter at the Times, David Leonhardt is tired of the "they're only 95% effective" drumbeat, and he's not alone. "It’s driving me a little bit crazy," Dr. Ashish Jha of the Brown School of Public Health tells Leonhardt. Dr. Aaron Richterman of the University of Pennsylvania adds, "We're underselling the vaccine." As Leonhardt explains and doctors emphasize, the vaccine will save your life, even if you're in that other 5%. To wit, of 32,000 people who got the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in trials, only one person suffered a severe COVID case.
  • Celebrity shot: Steve Martin said Sunday that he got his shot, and he didn't pull any celebrity strings, reports Page Six. He signed up online, then waited in line at the Javits Center in New York City. "Good news/Bad news," Martin tweeted. "I just got vaccinated! Bad news: I got it because I’m 75. Ha!" He thanked the Army and National Guard for the smooth operation, and couldn't resist a later joke: "Right now, I'm having no fide resects," he wrote.
(More COVID-19 stories.)

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