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The following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus.
Virus variant found in California drives SoCal surge
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A new variant of the coronavirus appears to account for the recent surge of cases in southern California, researchers say. The variant, called CAL.20C, accounted for fewer than one in every 1,000 COVID-19 cases in Los Angeles county in July. It was not detected again until October, but by December accounted for 36% of cases, researchers from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles reported on Wednesday on medRxiv ahead of peer review. The CAL.20C variant is distinct from those discovered in the UK, South Africa and Brazil. It carries five