L.A. County reports 1st case of more contagious coronavirus variant as region surpasses 1M infections Nexstar News
Los Angeles County confirmed its first case of the new, more contagious coronavirus strain first reported in the United Kingdom, health officials said Saturday. Authorities also announced that the region has surpassed 1 million coronavirus cases. A man who recently spent time in L.A. County was found to have the virus variant. He has since traveled to Oregon and is currently isolating there. Although this is the first confirmed case of the U.K. variant in the county, public health officials believe that the strain is already spreading in the community. “The presence of the U.K. variant in Los Angeles County is troubling, as our healthcare system is already severely strained with more than 7,500 people currently hospitalized,” Barbara Ferrer, L.A. County public health director, said in a news release Saturday. “Our community is bearing the brunt of the winter surge, experiencing huge numbers of cases, hospitalizations and deaths, five-times what we experienced over the summer.” Ferre