COVID-19 Spring Surge May be on the Horizon
Infographic by Allie Leeds & Johnny Neville | The Corsair
The UK variant of COVID-19, B.1.1.7, is known to be 50% more transmittable. According to the CDC's website, "Multiple lines of evidence indicate that B.1.1.7 is more efficiently transmitted than are other SARS-CoV-2 variants. The modeled trajectory of this variant in the U.S. exhibits rapid growth in early 2021, becoming the predominant variant in March.”
Current findings of the variant have been found in the Los Angeles area, “Currently 18 confirmed cases of [the] UK variant in L.A. County,” according to Barbara Ferrer, Public Health Director of Los Angeles County said at last Wednesday's briefing.
As California experiences a rise in the UK variant, the University of Southern California (USC), has two confirmed cases. “Public Health and USC are currently investigating a cluster of four cases of COVID-19 at USC. Of the cases being investigated, two patients are confirmed to have the UK variant, B.1.1.7, and two are suspected as variant cases, still awaiting laboratory confirmation,” said Ferrer.
B.1.427/ B 1.429, also known as the "California Virus", is theorized to be dated back to July of 2020, and is suggested the variant is 19 to 24% more transmissible, according to Forbes.
A big concern about this variant, is the growing number of reported positive cases in a short time. From November to late December, the B 1.427/ B.1.429 variant rose from 3.8% to 25%, reported by The Mercury News. Last week, Governor Gavin Newsom reported a 50% increase in reported cases of the B 1.427/ B.1.429 variants, according to Deadline.
Another variant discovered by new a research study from The University of California, San Francisco, identified a California strain L452R, which is a mutation of B.1.427/B.1.429. It has raised red flags in many larger cities and is an increasingly more common strain.
“We can confirm that between 40-50% of the samples that we sequenced in the public health lab since December, contained what is known as the L452R mutation of interest,” said Ferrer.
Mutation L452R has been linked to many community outbreaks in Los Angeles, Orange, Santa Clara, and many other counties, according to Santa Clara County's Public Health statement.
A rare but serious condition tied to COVID-19 has risen in California, named MIS-C and appears in children weeks after they've been diagnosed with COVID-19. "(MIS-C) is a condition where different body parts can become inflamed, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes, or gastrointestinal organs," the CDC reports. According to the County of Los Angeles Public Health, “L.A. County has experienced more than a 77% increase in children with MIS-C this past month.”
In L.A. County alone, 100 children have been reported to have MIS-C, with one death reported. L.A. County's statistics revealed, “All 100 children with MIS-C in L.A. County were hospitalized and 40% of the children were treated in the ICU. Of the children with MIS-C, 30% were under the age of 5 years old, 40% were between the ages of 5 and 11 years old, and 30% were between the ages of 12 and 20 years old. Latino/Latinx children account for 71% of the reported cases.”
With an anticipated rise of cases by researchers, it raises questions for the plans for schools K-12 as well as higher education.
In a statement released by Santa Monica College Superintendent and President Dr. Kathryn E. Jeffery indicates that “Santa Monica College will remain remote-only for the Summer 2021 term, with the exception of a limited number of in-person lab/practicum tools to be made available for students training in workforce areas deemed essential by the State of California.”
April Saez, a 25-year-old healthcare worker and SMC student, says that she thinks schools should reopen, "When people finally accept that masks help prevent the spread of germs. When all COVID cases no longer exist.”
In talks of the surge and protection against MIS-C, health officials have asked citizens to continue to not gather with people they do not live with, as well as continue to wear masks and social distance when leaving home.
