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COVID-19 Variant Detected On Central Coast; Different Than Version Found In Great Britain

State health officials say another version of the COVID-19 virus has been detected on the Central Coast.

The mutated version is called L-452R.  Health officials say it’s been found in San Luis Obispo County as well as 11 other California counties.  The biggest outbreak of the variant has been detected in Santa Clara County.

Researchers say this a different mutation than the one detected in Great Britain.  At this point, they believe the current vaccines will be effective against it.  They aren’t sure about all of the characteristics of the variation, like whether it might spread more quickly.

They also say L-452R might be more widespread than we know now, because we aren’t currently testing to see if positive cases of the virus are the newly detected variation.

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral.