SLO County doesn’t have new coronavirus strain after all, state says
The California Department of Public Health determined Thursday that a new variant of coronavirus has not been found in San Luis Obispo County, contrary to earlier reports.
On Jan. 17, the CDPH and UC San Francisco announced that several California counties, including Sans Luis Obispo County, had the L452R variant of COVID-19.
The strain was first detected in 2020 in other countries and states, according to the Jan. 17 news release.
San Luis Obispo County Public Health officer Dr. Penny Boresntein said Wednesday that the L452R variant is different than the B.1.1.7 variant first detected in the United Kingdom.
Borenstein also said Wednesday that whether the new variant was in San Luis Obispo was being called into question.
“We’re trying to determine if in fact some of the specimens that were claimed to have been from our county are indeed from our county,” Borenstein said. “We’ve gotten counter information from the state laboratory so we are digging into that. “
On Thursday the CDPH removed San Luis Obispo County from the list of counties where the L452 variant was present.
“Upon further examination, it was determined that the variant has not yet been identified in San Luis Obispo County, as previously reported,” a Thursday news release read.
