Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday that the first reported cases of the South African coronavirus variant have been found in the Bay Area.
Newsom said one case in Alameda County and one in Santa Clara County have been detected by a Stanford University virology lab.
Some studies have shown the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines used in the U.S. to be somewhat less effective against this particular strain of the virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there is no evidence yet that the variant has any impact on disease severity.
In better news, Newsom said COVID-19 numbers are still heading in the right direction. The state’s positivity rate has dipped to 4.8%, and hospitalizations have declined 34% in the last two weeks.
The governor said the positive trends mean that more counties could soon be moving to less restrictive tiers in the state's color-coded risk-assessment system, which governs which businesses and activities can resume.