Page 6 - Benjamin Pinsky News Today

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday that the state has the lowest COVID-19 positivity rate in the country.

‘Double mutant’ coronavirus variant identified in California Updated 7:32 AM; Today 7:31 AM FILE - This 2020 electron microscope image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - Rocky Mountain Laboratories shows SARS-CoV-2 virus particles which cause COVID-19, isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells cultured in a lab. Viruses are constantly mutating, with coronavirus variants circulating around the globe. (NIAID-RML via AP)AP Fa...

Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images A new coronavirus variant has been detected in India and northern California. It has a combination of mutations that may help it spread more quickly or evade vaccines.  But theres no evidence yet that the variant is "doubly scary" or "doubly transmissible," an expert said. Another worrisome coronavirus variant has made its global debut. Scientists from the Indian state of Maharashtra identified a new strain two...

Why this new variant may be worrisome The Stanford lab identified one confirmed case of the new variant and seven presumptive cases among samples from patients in the Bay Area, Pinsky said. Advertisement None of the other variants being monitored by federal officials have the same combination of these two mutations, known as L452R and E484Q, the latter of which is closely related to a more well-known mutation known as E484K. The L452R mutation became well known in California as one found ...

What to know about new virus detected in India thats in SF Bay Area FacebookTwitterEmail Clinical lab scientist Selam Bihon processes upper respiratory samples from patients suspected of having COVID-19 at the Stanford Clinical Virology Laboratory on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021, in Palo Alto, Calif. Viruses mutate constantly. To stay ahead of the threat, scientists analyze samples for genetic changes, watching closely for ones that might make the virus more infectious or more deadly.Noah Berger/Ass...

A San Bernardino County resident is the first in California to test positive for a coronavirus variant from Brazil, known as P.1.

Share Since that time, the lab’s throughput has increased considerably. Testing volume was as high as 4,000 samples daily at the peak of the most recent COVID-19 surge. With infection rates dropping, the lab is now conducting about 1,600 tests per day. A year ago, the clinical virology laboratory had about 20 staff members. Since the COVID-19 pandemic reached the United States, the lab has transformed itself into a 24/7, three-shift juggernaut, with some 60 staff members, including technician...

The first two California cases of the South African SARS-CoV-2 variant were recently detected by surveillance efforts at Stanford’s Clinical Virology Lab.

Dr. Benjamin Pinsky is a clinician and professor of pathology and infectious diseases at Stanford, and the editor-in-chief of the international Journal of Clinical Virology. He directs Stanford Medicine’s Clinical Virology Laboratory, which in January launched an ambitious project to identify and track variants of the Covid-19 virus in order to provide crucial information to vaccine researchers and public health officials. Earlier this month, his lab detected the first two cases of the South ...

The Stanford Clinical Virology Lab identified two cases of the variant, one each in Santa Clara and Alameda counties. The Santa Clara County case involved a person who had returned from international travel in mid-January.