The Berkeley Surge - Part 2

The Berkeley Surge Now Has a Variant:

From the Mercury News:

A pair of UC Berkeley students has tested positive for a more contagious strain of the coronavirus first found in the United Kingdom, the university announced Thursday.

The cases were among half a dozen new or suspected cases of the variant, called B.1.1.7., reported by Alameda County earlier this week, the university said in a news release.

The university said the strain appears to be 50 percent more infectious than earlier variants. While the strain is not known to be more deadly or cause more severe disease, experts including Dr. Anthony Fauci say it could make a vaccine less effective if it becomes dominant.

More than 540 cases of the variant have been found in 33 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but these are the first cases to be identified in the Bay Area. The first U.S. case was announced on Dec. 29, but the earliest known cases stretch back as far as mid-December, CNN reported.

According to the World Health Organization, the strain has also been found in at least 80 countries and territories.

Testing company Helix told CNN the variant is on the rise in the United States and could become dominant in hot spots like Florida and Southern California “within weeks.” ...

Full story at https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/02/04/coronavirus-two-uc-berkeley-students-test-positive-for-more-contagious-variant/