Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
U.S. logs 2nd virus-variant case
Gaining strength, researcher warns
California on Wednesday announced the nation’s second confirmed case of the new and apparently more contagious variant of the coronavirus, offering an indication that the infection is spreading more widely in the United States.
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the infection found in Southern California during an online conversation with Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
“I don’t think Californians should think that this is odd. It’s to be expected,” Fauci said.
Newsom did not provide any details about the person who was infected.
The announcement came
24 hours after word of the first reported U. S. variant infection, which emerged in Colorado. That person was identified Wednesday as a Colorado National Guardsman who had been sent to help out at a nursing home struggling with an outbreak. Health officials said a second Guard member may have it too.
The cases triggered a host of questions about how the version circulating in England arrived in the U.S. and whether it is too late to stop it now, with top experts saying it is probably already spreading elsewhere in the United States.
“The virus is becoming more fit, and we’re like a deer in the headlights,” warned Dr. Eric Topol, head of Scripps Research Translational Institute. He noted that the U.S. does far less genetic sequencing of virus samples to discover variants than other developed nations, and thus was probably slow to detect this new mutation.
The two Guard members had been dispatched Dec. 23 to work at the Good Samaritan Society nursing home in the small town of Simla, in a mostly rural area about 90 miles outside Denver, said Dr. Rachel Herlihy, state epidemiologist. They were among six Guard members sent to the home.
Nasal swab samples taken from the two as part of the Guard’s routine coronavirus testing were sent to the state laboratory, which began looking for the variant after its spread was announced in Britain earlier this month, Herlihy said. Samples from staff and residents at the nursing home are also being screened for the variant at the lab, but so far no evidence of it has been found, she said.
The Colorado case announced Tuesday involves a man in his 20s who had not traveled recently, officials said. He has mild symptoms and is isolating at his home near Denver, while the person with the suspected case is isolating at a Colorado hotel while further genetic analysis is done on his sample, officials said.
The nursing home said it is working closely with the state and is also looking forward to beginning vaccinations next week.
Several states, including California, Massachusetts and Delaware, are also analyzing suspicious virus samples for the variant, said Dr. Greg Armstrong, who directs genetic sequencing at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He said the CDC is working with a national lab that gets samples from around the country to broaden that search, with results expected within days.
Also Wednesday, Los Angeles County’s public health director said the county has surpassed 10,000 deaths from the coronavirus.
Dr. Barbara Ferrer said there have been 10,056 deaths and more than 7,400 people remain hospitalized with coronavirus in the county, with 20% of them in intensive care units.
The milestone came the same day Newsom announced an “unprecedented” high of 432 reported deaths, a figure that was likely elevated because of a lag in reporting over the holidays.
MORE PRESSURE
The discovery in Colorado has added urgency to the nation’s vaccination drive against covid-19, which has killed more than 340,000 people in the U.S.
Britain is seeing infections soar and hospitalizations climb to their highest levels on record. The variant has also been found in several other countries.
Scientists have found no evidence that it is more lethal or causes more severe illness, and they believe the vaccines now being dispensed will be effective against it. But a faster-spreading virus could swamp hospitals with seriously ill patients.
The discovery overseas led the CDC to issue rules on Christmas Day requiring travelers arriving from Britain to show proof of a negative covid-19 test. But U.S. health officials said the Colorado patient’s lack of travel history suggests the new variant is already spreading in the country.
Topol said it is too late for travel bans.
“We’re behind in finding it. Colorado is likely one of many places it’s landed here,” he said. “It’s all over the place. How can you ban travel from everywhere?”
Colorado public health officials are conducting contact tracing to determine its spread.
Researchers estimate the variant is 50% to 70% more contagious, said Dr. Eric France, Colorado’s chief medical officer.
“Instead of only making two or three other people sick, you might actually spread it to four or five people,” France said. “That means we’ll have more cases in our communities. Those number of cases will rise quickly and, of course, with more cases come more hospitalizations.”
London and southeast England were placed under strict lockdown measures earlier this month because of the variant, and dozens of countries banned flights from Britain. France also briefly barred trucks from Britain before allowing them back in, provided the drivers got tested for the virus.
New versions of the virus have been seen almost since it was first detected in China a year ago. It is common for viruses to undergo minor changes as they reproduce and move through a population. The fear is that mutations at some point will become significant enough to defeat the vaccines.
South Africa has also discovered a highly contagious covid-19 variant that is driving the country’s latest spike of cases, hospitalizations and deaths.
TEXAS SHOT DELAYS
Meanwhile, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday that “a significant portion” of the more than 600,000 coronavirus vaccine doses delivered to health care providers in the state “might be sitting on hospital shelves” rather than being administered to Texans.
Saying “no vaccine should be kept in reserve,” the state’s chief health official ordered providers Tuesday to begin offering vaccinations to people over 65 and those with medical conditions, including pregnancy, that put them at greater risk of a severe case of covid-19.
Dr. John Hellerstedt, commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services, said in a letter last week to providers that he had become aware of “unnecessary delays in administering all allocated vaccines,” urging them to “act with all deliberate speed.”
“The time to vaccinate willing individuals is now,” Hellerstedt said. “Based on data reported to [the Texas immunization registry], it has become clear that a significant portion of vaccine in Texas may not be administered yet. We know you have valid reasons as to why this has happened in some cases — but we also know that every day a vaccine sits on the shelf is another day that prolongs the pandemic that is hindering our state’s economy and way of life.”
State health officials didn’t mention which providers might be slow to administer vaccines.
A spokesperson for Ascension Seton in Austin said the health network has vaccinated “nearly 9,000 frontline caregivers, support staff and providers” and is beginning to offer the vaccine to first responders and independent front-line providers.
“Ascension Seton continues to administer all covid-19 vaccines provided,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
State health officials had estimated that 1.4 million Texans would receive the first of two doses of the coronavirus vaccine by today, with the second dose administered in January. But as of Tuesday, just 163,700 Texans had received a first dose, according to a state dashboard tracking the state vaccine rollout.
The first to have access to the vaccine, which arrived in Texas two weeks ago, are hospital employees working directly with coronavirus patients, long-term care residents and staff members working with vulnerable residents, emergency workers and home health care workers.
Hellerstedt said if a provider has exhausted all patients in the first tier, it should immediately move to vulnerable Texans and those over 65.
Abbott also suggested in a late Tuesday afternoon tweet that providers weren’t distributing vaccine doses fast enough.
“A significant portion of vaccines distributed across Texas might be sitting on hospital shelves as opposed to being given to vulnerable Texans The state urges vaccine providers to quickly provide all shots. We get plenty more each week. Always voluntary,” he said.
The Department of State Health Services estimates there are 1.6 million Texans in the state’s health care workforce, and the vaccine won’t be available to the general public until the spring.
Nearly 380,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine will be sent to Texas providers this week, the third week of vaccine distribution in the state.
The latest shipments will bring the state’s total vaccine allocation to 1.2 million doses, according to the Department of State Health Services.