California - Coronavirus COVID-19

[PommyMommy]

DEC 1, 2021
First omicron variant case in U.S. detected in California (nbcnews.com)
[...]

The CDC said in a statement that the California Department of Public Health and the San Francisco Department of Public Health confirmed the case in a traveler who returned from South Africa on Nov. 22 — three days before scientists in that country announced they'd detected the new variant.

The person, an adult under age 50, developed symptoms a few days after arriving in the U.S. and got tested on Nov. 28, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday. The test came back positive for Covid-19 on Monday, Nov. 29.

"The individual, who was fully vaccinated and had mild symptoms that are improving, is self-quarantining and has been since testing positive," the CDC statement read. Close contacts of the person have been undergoing Covid tests and so far, no one has tested positive.

[...]

During a separate news conference, Dr. Grant Colfax of the San Francisco Department of Public Health said the patient had received two doses of the Moderna vaccine, but had not received a booster shot.

[...]

 

[coastal]

DEC 1, 2021
First omicron variant case in U.S. detected in California (nbcnews.com)
[...]

The CDC said in a statement that the California Department of Public Health and the San Francisco Department of Public Health confirmed the case in a traveler who returned from South Africa on Nov. 22 — three days before scientists in that country announced they'd detected the new variant.

The person, an adult under age 50, developed symptoms a few days after arriving in the U.S. and got tested on Nov. 28, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday. The test came back positive for Covid-19 on Monday, Nov. 29.

"The individual, who was fully vaccinated and had mild symptoms that are improving, is self-quarantining and has been since testing positive," the CDC statement read. Close contacts of the person have been undergoing Covid tests and so far, no one has tested positive.

[...]

During a separate news conference, Dr. Grant Colfax of the San Francisco Department of Public Health said the patient had received two doses of the Moderna vaccine, but had not received a booster shot.

[...]

Terrific. Why are we left guessing where this traveler actually lives in California? I assume San Francisco, because SF's mayor commented in the article, but why omit such an important detail? Surely those living near this omicron-positive person would appreciate knowing that. I know I would, because even 'somewhere in California" makes me nervous, these days.

SMDH

 

[coastal]

Too late to edit my post above. Update:

First US case of omicron variant detected in San Francisco, source says | KGET 17

WASHINGTON (AP) — A person in San Franciso (sic) became the first in the U.S. to have an identified case of the omicron variant of COVID-19, a U.S. official told The Associated Press on Wednesday. It comes as scientists continue to study the risks posed by the new strain of the virus.

Anthony Fauci announced that the first omicron case was in San Francisco during a press conference at the White House...

(article continues)

 

[Auntie Cipation]

Terrific. Why are we left guessing where this traveler actually lives in California? I assume San Francisco, because SF's mayor commented in the article, but why omit such an important detail? Surely those living near this omicron-positive person would appreciate knowing that. I know I would, because even 'somewhere in California" makes me nervous, these days.

SMDH

I had the same concern. I live in one of the most remote areas of California and even here there is at least one person originally from South Africa who might reasonably be expected to visit there occasionally.

Fortunately (for us here), I did read yesterday that the Omicron patient is a resident of San Francisco, and also is under the age of 50. (the local person I was worried about is older than that)

What really worries me is that "few days" between when they arrived back in SF and when they received a positive test and began isolating. I know they said they're contact tracing, but IME contact tracing only identifies people with whom extended contact was had. Closer than 6 feet for more than 15 minutes, IIRC. They're not sleuthing out everyone who was in the grocery store or library, on the bus, in line at the coffee shop, etc, if the patient says they were only there for ten minutes.

But Omicron is supposedly very much more contagious than "Covid Classic", so really those contact parameters need to change, IMO.

 

[coastal]

Latest Coronavirus Updates: After Thanksgiving Gatherings, Daily Case Count Surges Into Four Figures

Latest Coronavirus Updates: After Thanksgiving Gatherings, Daily Case Count Surges Into Four Figures

What to Know for Dec. 3

• San Diego County reported 1,153 new coronavirus cases and 4 additional COVID-19-related deaths
• The number of COVID patients hospitalized in San Diego County increased from 292 on Wednesday to 298, according to the latest state figures. Of those patients, 84 were in intensive care, unchanged from Tuesday
• Officials are blaming the large increase in cases from the day before on Thanksgiving gatherings, stressing that the omicron variant was not to blame

 

[margarita25]

Too late to edit my post above. Update:

First US case of omicron variant detected in San Francisco, source says | KGET 17

WASHINGTON (AP) — A person in San Franciso (sic) became the first in the U.S. to have an identified case of the omicron variant of COVID-19, a U.S. official told The Associated Press on Wednesday. It comes as scientists continue to study the risks posed by the new strain of the virus.

Anthony Fauci announced that the first omicron case was in San Francisco during a press conference at the White House...

(article continues)

(spark it up! )

 

[Suglo]

California orders statewide mask requirement starting Wednesday amid rising coronavirus cases

 

[coastal]

So interesting, FYI:

UCSD Reports ‘Unprecedented' Spike in San Diego Wastewater COVID Viral Load

UCSD Reports ‘Unprecedented' Spike in San Diego Wastewater COVID Viral Load

>>>snip

Since people with COVID-19 shed the virus in their stool even before they experience symptoms, wastewater screening acts as an early warning system

By City News Service • Published December 20, 2021 • Updated on December 20, 2021 at 5:20 pm

An "unprecedented" spike in COVID-19 viral load in wastewater collected from San Diego County's primary wastewater treatment facility has been noted by UC San Diego School of Medicine researchers.

The amount of COVID-19 virus detected in wastewater has predicted the region's COVID-19 caseload up to three weeks ahead of clinical diagnostic reports, the researchers said Saturday. Since people with COVID-19 shed the virus in their stool even before they experience symptoms, wastewater screening acts as an early warning system.

"The wastewater screening results reported on Friday are unlike any the team has seen before," said Jackie Carr of UC San Diego Health. Both Delta and Omicron variants of the virus were detected in the wastewater.

"This confirms prior county reports that Omicron is already here and circulating in our community," said Dr. Wilma Wooten, San Diego County's public health officer.

"This is the steepest curve in viral load we've seen since we began screening wastewater in the summer of 2020, and it's continuing to get worse faster than ever before," said Rob Knight, professor and wastewater screening leader at UC San Diego School of Medicine...

..."So what we’re essentially seeing is two pandemics on top of each other, with these two different strains of COVID-19. Unless people act now to protect themselves, we’re going to see the hospitals overflowing and we’re going to see case numbers as we’ve never seen before in San Diego," said Knight...

...San Diego County has only one primary wastewater treatment facility, in the Point Loma neighborhood. All excrement flushed away by nearly two-thirds of the county's residents, including those on the UC San Diego campus, ends up there.

UCSD researchers pick up wastewater samples that had been collected and stored for them by lab technicians at the treatment plant. They bring the samples to a lab at the La Jolla campus to test them for the COVID-19 virus, along with wastewater samples collected from more than 350 campus buildings. All positive samples are sequenced to track viral variants.

The team can detect even a single infected, asymptomatic person living or working in a large building of more than 500 people on the UCSD campus. They have found that notifying the occupants of each building with positive wastewater increases COVID-19 testing rates by as much as 13-fold. The approach has enabled early detection of 85 percent of COVID-19 cases on UCSD's campus, officials said.

(article continues)

Copyright CNS - City News Service

>>>snip