The Monterey County Health Department says it has begun local genomic monitoring of COVID-19 variants. The program comes as new variants are being detected in the U.S.
So far, Monterey County has found most of the cases locally are of the L452R Variant, a California-borne variant that is associated with 70% of local cases.
However, viruses change constantly, including the virus that causes COVID-19. Surveillance such as that being conducted by the Monterey County Public Health Laboratory can detect new variants with the ability to:
- Spread more quickly among people
- Cause either milder or more severe disease in people
- Evade detection by specific diagnostic tests
- Decrease their susceptibility to therapeutics that employ monoclonal antibodies
- Evade natural or vaccine-induced immunity
