California announces first case of virus variant

December 30, 2020 3:58 PM

Associated Press

Posted: December 30, 2020 3:58 PM

Updated: December 30, 2020 3:59 PM

by Associated Press

Coronavirus 1280 — This scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (yellow)—also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus that causes COVID-19—isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells (blue/pink) cultured in the lab.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom has announced the first known case of the new and apparently more contagious variant of the coronavirus in the nation’s most populated state.

It follows the first reported U.S. case in Colorado. Newsom said he had just learned of the finding in a Southern California case Wednesday. He announced it during an online conversation with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious-disease expert.

Newsom did not provide any other details about the person who was infected.

The Colorado and California cases have triggered a host of questions about how the mutant version circulating in England arrived in the U.S. and whether it is too late to stop it now.