SAN DIEGO — A potentially more infectious strain of coronavirus that first appeared in the United Kingdom has not arrived in California as of Wednesday.
Several laboratories across the state actively check for new strains of the virus and would likely be the first place it would be detected.
“There are multiple different types of strains circulating in San Diego, but to-date, the U.K. strain has not currently been identified in San Diego,” said Dr. Wilma Wooten, M.D., M.P.H., the county’s public health officer. “I say to-date because we all know with people traveling it is only a matter of time before that happens.”
Earlier this week, Gov. Gavin Newsom called on federal officials to take action and require passengers from the U.K. to quarantine upon arrival in the U.S.
Other nations have suspended flights from the U.K. because of concerns the new strain is more infectious than previously detected strains.
“The new mutated COVID virus seems to bind a little tighter, a little more easily enter the cell of the human body, easier than our current COVID virus that we have here,” said Mark Ghaly, M.D., Secretary of California Health and Human Services Agency.
Public officials continue to plead with the public to wear a face covering and maintain social distancing and handwashing practices to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Both are proven effective against all strains of coronavirus.
“As we head into the Christmas holiday, we're faced with confronting the fact that this is the darkest hour and darkest time we've faced throughout our duration of COVID,” said Supervisor Nathan Fletcher while imploring people to avoid gathering for Christmas. “The choices we make over the next three or four days will determine our trajectory for January and where we go.”
UK coronavirus strain not confirmed in California yet, but on officials' radar
Other nations have suspended flights from the U.K. because of concerns the new strain is more infectious than previously detected strains.