California Reports First Case of New COVID-19 Strain

California Governor Gavin Newsom has confirmed that the new COVID-19 variant or strain initially found in the United Kingdom was detected in a patient of Southern California.

Newsom announced this while he spoke in a live Facebook conversation with the nation's leading infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, on Wednesday afternoon.

Health experts believed that the new COVID-19 variant is more infectious and is linked to the increased infections in the U.K. and South Africa.

Even though it is not yet established if the new strain will cause severe infections or symptoms, this could still overwhelm the healthcare system.

New Strain of COVID-19 Found in California

So far, this was the second time that the new COVID-19 variant was discovered in the country. The first case was detected in Colorado, and it infected two National Guards deployed to support staffing at a nursing home.

The new COVID-19 strain in California worries state and health officials because the intensive care unit (ICU) capacity in some areas is now zero percent, Newsweek reported.

Patient Has No Travel History

According to San Diego County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher, a 30-year-old man in the county tested positive for the new COVID-19 strain on Tuesday.

Fletcher noted that the patient has no recent travel history from countries with confirmed cases of the new variant of COVID-19.

He said: "Because there is no travel history, we believe this is not an isolated case in San Diego County."

Health officials said the man, who was not hospitalized, was most of the time interacting with people inside his household. But despite this, they said contact tracing is still being done.

Fletcher urged residents to stay at home for New Year's celebrations to avoid getting infected with the new strain. Fletcher said COVID-19 already strains the healthcare system in the region.

Newsom said: "An hour or so ago, we were informed that this new variant, this new strain-that we've identified obviously from the United Kingdom, some other parts of the globe, identified in Colorado yesterday-has been identified here in the state of California, in Southern California."

Fauci Expects the New Variant in California

Fauci told Newsom that he was not surprised by California's finding.

"I'm not surprised that you have a case, and likely more cases, in California. And we likely will be seeing reports from other states," he said.

Fauci linked the presence of the new variant to high numbers of travel reported in recent days in connection with the winter holidays. The infectious disease expert said the Californians should feel that this is something odd and this is something that is expected, according to a USA Today report.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the new variant, known as B.1.1.7, is responsible for 60 percent of the new COVID-19 cases reported in London. The new variant has also been detected in Canada and a handful of European countries.

British scientists said the B.1.1.7 is more contagious than previously identified strains but not more severe. Its transmission rate is reportedly 70 percent compared with other variants in the U.K.