Coronavirus update: As numbers continue to improve, variants becoming larger concern

With COVID-19 vaccinations impacted by the brutal winter weather across much of the nation, public health officials are increasingly concerned about a spread of coronavirus variants that could flip the trajectory of improving case counts across the country.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday updated data on the spread of a variant first identified in the United Kingdom. The first U.S. cases of the variant, B.1.1.7, were found in Minnesota in late December and early January and as of Feb. 14 a total of 1,173 had been identified in 39 U.S. states surveyed and Washington D.C.

That was up to 1,523 cases in the CDC update and 195 of them, the second most of any state in the country, were in California. Florida had the most U.K. variant cases with 433 and Michigan was third with 157, that testing only a small percentage of positive COVID-19 test samples.

“The fact of the matter is we’re kind of in the dark,” Dr. Diane Griffin, who studies infectious diseases at Johns Hopkins, told the Associated Press. The variants, including one traced to Brazil and another to South Africa, are “probably widespread even if we don’t know it,” she added.

The variants have mutations in the virus genome that alter the characteristics and cause the virus to act differently in ways, causing more severe disease, spreading more easily, requiring different treatments and changing the effectiveness of vaccines. Officials in the U.K. reported in January that the variant linked there may be associated with an increased risk of death, but more studies are needed to confirm that finding, according to the CDC.

The White House earlier this week announced a scaled up push by the CDC to expand DNA mapping of coronavirus samples to identify potentially mutations that are starting to spread around the country.

The Biden administration will invest $200 million for the CDC to increase genomic sequencing to about 25,000 samples a week, triple the current level. A U.S. Army biodefense institute also will increase coronavirus gene mapping to 10,000 samples a week by the end of the month, up from about 4,000.

The next CDC update on variants is scheduled for Sunday.

Updates for the central San Joaquin Valley

Fresno County public health officials reported another 192 confirmed COVID-19 cases on Thursday, bringing the total to 93,555. The one-day test positivity rate went up to 13.0%, with the 192 positives in 1,476 new tests.

There also were seven more deaths with a total of 1,356, but the number of coronavirus patients in county hospitals dropped by 13 to 311 and the number in intensive care units was down by seven to 75.

The California Department of Public Health had the number of coronavirus patients hospitalized in Fresno County down to 295, which would be the lowest since the start of December. The CDPH reported 291 on Dec. 1, and that number continued to rise through a winter surge, peaking at 659 in early January.

Here are the updates from the CDPH for the Central San Joaquin Valley:

Kings County

• 34 new cases; 21,617 total
• 7-day average 46; 14-day 56
• 4 new deaths; 213 total

Madera County

• 15 new cases; 15,135 total
• 7-day average 30; 14-day 38
• 0 new deaths; 201 total

Mariposa County

• 1 new case; 368 total
• 7-day average 1; 14-day 2
• 0 new deaths; 7 total

Merced County

• 100 new cases; 27,824 total
• 7-day average 83; 14-day 93
• 0 new deaths; 382 total

Tulare County

• 51 new cases; 46,495
• 7-day average 102; 14-day 118
• 9 new deaths; 706 total

Statewide there were 5,373 new confirmed coronavirus cases with the total moving to 3,421,720, according to data from the California Department of Public Health.

The 7-day test positivity rate is down to 3.2% and the 14-day is down to 3.9%, though those numbers are much higher in the San Joaquin Valley.

In Fresno County the 14-day test positivity is 9,8%, according to the CDPH. It is 15.3% in Kings County, 11.0% in Madera County, 10.2% in Mariposa County, 10.5% in Merced County and 9.9% in Tulare County.

There also were 417 new deaths in the state, the total now 47,924.

The U.S. is closing in on 28 million cases – it is up to 27,895,990, according to an early Friday morning update from the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

There also have been 493,098 coronavirus-related deaths in the country, according to the CSSE.

Madera County to expand vaccine registration

The Madera County Department of Public Health on Friday is opening coronavirus vaccine registration with expanded eligibility for residents in three groups – those 50 and older in emergency services, 50 and older in food and agriculture and 50 and older in education/licensed child care.

It also is vaccinating health care workers, long-term care staff and residents, medical first responders, those 65 and older and qualifying high-risk patients based upon guidance and with an approved physican referral form.

This story was originally published February 19, 2021 at 7:43 AM.