Update: New COVID-19 Variants Continue to Emerge—This Time in the U.S.

Whatever degree of comfort there might have been in knowing variants in the COVID-19 virus occurred far from U.S. shores has disappeared with the news that a new one has been identified in California. It was discovered, independently, by two research teams who were looking for indications that the British variant could have crossed “the pond.” While they did find a few such cases in a couple of southern California counties, the more important discovery was CAL.20C, as the California variant has come to be called. By late last month, it accounted for 24% of virus samples taken from residents of southern California, and 36% of those taken in Los Angeles. As such, it’s being blamed for the recent surge in the region. Like the British variant, it’s presumed to be more contagious than the original strain. While the UK variant has now been found to be just as deadly, if not more so, there are no such indications that this is true of CAL.20C so far. Troubling, though, is the fact that it has also been detected in northern California, New York, and Washington, DC.