Newer coronavirus subvariants ticking up in California amid concerns of winter wave
Updated 11:45 am, Tuesday, February 4, 2020
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Updated 11:45 am, Tuesday, February 4, 2020
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Public health labs have flagged a new coronavirus — the one that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome and killed a U.S. doctor and a nurse who worked at a California hospital — and a number of other novel viruses that have a connection to the SARS-CoV-2 gene.
A San Diego-area health district is working on a plan for the next two weeks to handle any potential surge of patients with novel coronavirus, after a man in his 60s was diagnosed with the virus and is being treated at UCSF Medical Center.
California also has a large number of confirmed cases of the virus, with 12,000 cases in the state as of Tuesday morning, and more than 100 people are being treated in hospital.
On Tuesday, California officials identified some residents who tested positive for or likely had the virus, and the state has begun a drive to contact others who might be possible carriers.
The number of people with the virus — which causes a respiratory illness like the common cold — is rising in California, even as the number of confirmed cases declines, public health officials said Tuesday.
So far, 13 of the state’s 15 counties and more than 20 cities have reported the first known positive tests related to the virus, which is likely the cause of the novel virus, called COVID-19, according to the Public Health England website.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there’s reason to believe that the disease is spreading and will continue to do so until there’s a vaccine.
“This is only going to get worse before it gets better,” Dr. Nancy Messonnier of Public Health England said of the virus. “This is an evolving virus and we have to be ready to adapt.”
There are several cases of the virus in the state, and Public Health England said the virus has been found in one more state. The federal government doesn’t know how the virus spread within California.
The World Health Organization said that a novel coronavirus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome is spreading through China and other countries, spreading