Two new coronavirus variants confirmed in this central San Joaquin Valley county
The first confirmed cases in the central San Joaquin Valley of two concerning variants of the novel coronavirus were acknowledged Friday by health officials in Kings County.
The county’s Department of Public Health reported that one patient tested positive this week for a virus variant called B.1.1.7, which was first detected in the United Kingdom. Since its emergence in late December, the U.K. variant has spread to more than 200 counties, and at least 262 cases of it have been confirmed in California.
The infected individual reportedly contracted the virus while traveling outside the United States. The person has been in isolation since first experiencing symptoms, and Kings County health officials are conducting contact tracing to track down people with whom the patient has been in close contact.
Another Kings County resident was identified as having a different COVID-19 variant, B.1.429, that has emerged in California. More than 4,000 cases with that particular strain of coronavirus have been confirmed in California.
“As Kings County has now identified the first case of this more infectious variant of COVID-19, as well as a subsequent variant of a different strain, it is a reminder to remain vigilant as our case rates decline in Kings County,” said Edward Hill, director of the county health department, in a statement released Friday afternoon.
“We must continue using safe practices by physical distancing, staying home when feeling sick, testing regularly, wearing a face mask, and avoiding indoor gatherings,” Hill added.
Health officials said there is no evidence that vaccines to prevent infection, or antibody treatments to treat mild early-onset cases of COVID-19, are less effective on the U.K. variant, “however, there is evidence that this variant may be more severe.”
The California Department of Public Health is asking medical providers statewide to send test samples from infected patients for more extensive genome sequencing to check for the U.K. variant if the patient has either traveled internationally or been exposed to someone who has traveled abroad, represents a possible re-infection at least 90 days after an initial case of COVID-19, is a “breakthrough” infection two weeks after a completed vaccine regimen, or was part of a prolonged outbreak in a congregate living facility, including nursing homes, skilled nursing facilities, group home, or jail or prison.
In neighboring Fresno County, interim county health officer Dr. Rais Vohra said Friday that his office has yet to receive word from state health officials in making arrangements to send a percentage of testing samples to state labs for genome analysis to detect any of the new variants.
To date, no cases of the variants have been reported in Fresno County, but Vohra cautioned against overconfidence. “These variants are out there,” he said. “I think it would be naive to think that Fresno doesn’t have them circulating just because we haven’t found them ourselves.”
“These variants are being found at a fast clip all over the world and even all over California,” Vohra added. He noted that because the variants have been shown to be more contagious, their presence could hypothetically explain why Fresno County’s progress in reducing its rate of new cases has almost stalled over the past few weeks compared to significant improvement since mid-January.
Greater vaccine eligibility
Monday will mark the start of a new tier of eligibility for residents in Fresno County, the San Joaquin Valley and all of California to begin getting vaccinations against COVID-19. That’s when people ages 16 to 64, with high-risk chronic medical conditions, can sign up for their shots.
Vohra and Joe Prado, community health division manager for Fresno County, said it will represent a huge increase in the number of people who will be eligible for vaccines – perhaps in the “hundreds of thousands” in the county, Vohra said Friday.
Among the conditions qualifying for expanded eligibility are cancer, kidney disease, pulmonary disease requiring oxygen treatment, Down syndrome, organ transplants with a compromised immune system, pregnancy, sickle cell disease, heart conditions, severe obesity, or diabetes.
People can register for a vaccination appointment at county clinics through the state’s MyTurn system or with other medical providers through their own registration processes. But in addition to making an appointment, people will need to bring a doctor’s note verifying that they have one of those underlying high-risk chronic medical conditions, or some other medical condition that puts them at high risk for complications from COVID-19.
But both the county and the state recognize that some residents don’t have a regular family doctor who can write them a verification note. For those people, the county is allowing people to fill out a form that will be available from the Fresno County Department of Public Health website that lets them attest, on their honor, that they have a qualifying medical condition.
The form will be available Friday night at www.fcdph.org/covid19vax and only valid for clinics starting Monday.
“This is a real issue,” Prado said this week. “We have a vulnerable population who doesn’t normally on a day-to-day basis have access to a physician. This is going to be a significant barrier, and we’re going to try to mitigate that barrier by having self-attestation form available.”
Dr. Mark Ghaly, secretary of California’s Health & Human Services Agency, also noted the ability of residents to attest for themselves about any chronic high-risk conditions they have. But the state’s expectation is that counties won’t take too many liberties with the state’s list of qualifying conditions.
“We feel like we’re focused on the most vulnerable first,” Ghaly told reporters Friday. “Our hope is that the counties won’t modify it.”
Around the Valley
Friday’s coronavirus updates from counties in the central San Joaquin Valley include:
Fresno County: 160 new cases, 97,026 to date; seven additional deaths, 1,534 to date. Local hospitals were treating 172 confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases. Almost 228,000 doses of coronavirus vaccine had been given to residents as of Thursday night.
Kings County: 50 new cases, 22,320 to date; two additional deaths, 235 to date. The county’s totals include more than 7,200 cases and 17 deaths among inmates at state prisons in Avenal and Corcoran. As of Thursday, 20 patients were hospitalized, and 20,107 vaccinations had been provided in the county.
Madera County: 19 new cases, 15,667 to date; no additional deaths, 222 to date. Hospitals were treating 18 patients, and more than 33,150 vaccine does had been provided.
Mariposa County: No new cases, 396 to date; no additional deaths, seven to date. One person was hospitalized, and about 3,280 vaccines had been given.
Merced County: 85 new cases, 29,796 to date; three additional deaths, 421 to date. Hospitals were treating 23 patients, and more than 52,000 doses of vaccine had been provided to residents in the county.
Tulare County: 71 new cases, 48,550 to date; two additional deaths, 784 to date. Seventy-one people were hospitalized for COVID-19 cases, and just over 94,000 vaccine doses had been given.
Since the first cases of coronavirus were reported in the six-county region more than 12 months ago, 213,755 people have had COVID-19. Of those cases, 3,203 patients died from the disease.
This story was originally published March 12, 2021 at 4:29 PM.
