'Double mutant': New COVID-19 variant discovered in Bay Area

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, Calif. (KRON) - Another troubling variant of the coronavirus has been discovered here in the Bay Area -- This time it's an emerging variant from India.

There is one case so far, thought to have occurred in Santa Clara County.   

The discovery was made by researchers at Stanford Health Care.

By a technique called Genomic Sequencing, the Stanford Clinical Virology Lab has identified one case of the India variant.  

It is thought to have occurred in a patient from Santa Clara County and the lab is now working to confirm another seven suspected cases, says lab director Dr. Benjamin Pinsky.

Dr. Pinsky says they have a lot to learn about this latest variant, which may be to blame for a recent surge of cases in India.  

The variant is being called a "double mutant" because it has two mutations which could possibly make it that much more infectious.  

In the parts of India where the double mutant variant is most prevalent, new cases are up as much as 50-percent.  

Other, more infectious strains of the virus from Brazil and South Africa have also been found in the Bay Area and maybe somewhat resistant to vaccines but there is no need to panic.  

The India variant is one more reason to vaccinate as many people as possible, says Dr. Pinsky.

Via Coronavirus | KRON4 https://www.kron4.com

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