No United Kingdom or South African Mutations of COVID-19 Detected in Pasadena

So far, there have been no reports of COVID-19 variants among the city’s coronavirus cases, according to Pasadena Public Information Officer Lisa Derderian. 

“No. Not to our knowledge,” Derderian said when asked by Pasadena Now if the variant had been detected. 

The South African variant, much like a variant first found in the United Kingdom, is not regarded as more dangerous but it is believed to be much more easily passed from person to person.

The first two cases of a South African variant of COVID-19 were confirmed in the state — but not in the Southland — with Gov. Gavin Newsom saying one case each was detected in the Bay Area counties of Alameda and Santa Clara.

“The issue of mutations is top of mind, not only here in the state of California and across this nation, but increasingly around the globe,” Newsom said.

The U.K. variant has also been detected in San Diego, Orange and Riverside counties. Health officials have conceded that the variant is likely more widespread in the area but just hasn’t been widely reported due to the time-consuming genomics process needed to identify it.

As of Wednesday, there were 159 confirmed cases of the U.K. variant detected in California, including eight in Los Angeles County. Newsom said there are 1,203 confirmed cases of two West Coast variants, but to date, there are no cases of another variant discovered in Brazil.

The emergence of variants is being closely watched by health officials, particularly amid the rollout of vaccines that so far are believed to be effective against all the new strains of the virus.

While the variants are not believed to be any more deadly than the original virus, the speed at which they can spread raises concerns that they could more easily reach people more susceptible to severe illness if they are infected.

Newsom said the state operates 30 genomics labs, and they have examined more than 12,000 case specimens.