Sacramento, CA–The California Department of Public Health (CDPH), in coordination with Santa Clara County and the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), today announced that an L452R variant of COVID-19 is increasingly being identified by viral genomic sequencing in multiple counties across the state.
The 452R variant has previously been detected in other countries and states, including California, and is now increasingly being found in multiple counties throughout California. The state is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), local public health departments and laboratory sequencing partners to learn more about the variant, including how it spreads.
The 452R variant was first identified last year in other countries and states, including California. This variant is different than the B.1.1.7 variant first detected in the United Kingdom. As the number of specimens tested to monitor for variant strains has increased at California labs, including UCSF, the 452R variant has been identified more frequently since November. The 452R variant been identified in several large outbreaks in Santa Clara County.
Santa Clara County has sequenced a large number of positive specimens collected from community testing sites and outbreaks in the county. The 452R variant was present in specimens from the community and from several large outbreaks, including outbreaks where very high numbers of people exposed contracted the virus. Analysis regarding the role of this and other variants in outbreaks and community spread in Santa Clara County is ongoing.
In addition to Santa Clara County, the 452R variant has been detected in Humboldt, Lake, Los Angeles, Mono, Monterey, Orange, Riverside, San Francisco, San Bernardino, San Diego and San Luis Obispo counties. Because genomic sequencing is not done equally across the state or country, it is too soon to know how prevalent the 452 variant is statewide, nationally or globally.
