Local Public Health Labs on Lookout For New Highly Infectious COVID-19 Strain

Local public health laboratories are currently testing for new and more contagious strains of the coronavirus that have popped up in England and South Africa. 

The new flu strain could be 70 percent more transmissible, according to health experts. 

“All labs have been asked to look for the mutations,” said Pasadena Public Information Officer Lisa Derderian. “The CDC and state lab is doing whole-genome sequencing. Pasadena does not operate a public health lab.”

Dr. Anthony Fauci of the White House Coronavirus Task Force has said it’s likely that the new strain is already in the United States. 

According to Los Angeles County Health Director Barbara Ferrer, a local laboratory is doing gene sequencing to test virus samples collected in the county. However, it will take about a week to finish the process.

The new variant was first reported in Great Britain, which instituted tougher lockdown rules over the past week, but it has also been reported in France. The virus is said to be far more contagious than the original strain but has not been found to be deadlier.

In the meantime, several countries have banned people from the United Kingdom from crossing their borders.

Turkey, Germany, Italy, France, Austria, Belgium, Ireland and Canada have banned all flights from the UK, and more countries are expected to follow suit.

Southland health officials are concerned that if the new strain is already present in Southern California, it could be behind some of the explosive growth in COVID-19 cases seen since the Thanksgiving holiday period.