California's COVID-19 Variant Appears To Be More Contagious AND Deadlier

 

L.A. Times: California's coronavirus strain looks increasingly dangerous: 'The devil is already here' 

A coronavirus variant that probably emerged in May and surged to become the dominant strain in California not only spreads more readily than its predecessors but also evades antibodies generated by COVID-19 vaccines or prior infection and is associated with severe illness and death, researchers said. 

In a study that helps explain the state’s dramatic holiday surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths — and portends further trouble ahead — scientists at UC San Francisco said the cluster of mutations that characterizes the homegrown strain should mark it as a “variant of concern” on par with those from the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil.

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Update #1: California's COVID-19 Variant Appears to Be More Contagious, And Possibly Deadlier (Science Alert) 

Update #2: New California Variant More Contagious, Two Studies Confirm (New York Times) 

WNU Editor: Almost 50,000 have died in California from Covid-19 so far .... Coronavirus: As US passes 500,000 COVID-19 deaths, California nears 50,000 (Record-Bee).

Update #3: A lot of details on California's Covid-19 variant is here .... 'The devil is already here': Scientists say homegrown California COVID variant will account for 90% of the state's cases by the end of March and has a viral load twice as HIGH as earlier strains and a higher resistance to vaccines (Daily Mail).