As California sees a decline in COVID-19 cases, there is growing concern about another potential problem waiting around the corner: a new more contagious, severe virus strain that can evade antibodies generated by COVID-19 vaccines or prior infection.
Those attributes have some scientists worried that the homegrown California variant could reverse the state’s recent progress in reducing new infections — especially if it’s able to swap mutations with other threatening strains.
Experts believe the California variant likely emerged in the state in May.
By the end of next month, the homegrown strain will probably account for 90% of the state’s coronavirus infections, said Dr. Charles Chiu, an infectious disease researcher.
Scientists believe the CA variant is more transmissible.
Researchers saw uniform patterns in the way it spread in counties across the state. When COVID-19 infection rates rose statewide, they typically did so alongside evidence of the strain’s presence.
The worrisome thing about the California variant is that no apparent weakness has been introduced alongside mutations that added strength to the virus, said Dr. Bruce Walker, an immunologist.
Scientists say the “nightmare scenario” with variants is if the California and U.K. variants meet in a single person, swap their mutations and create an even more dangerous strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
The new HBO documentary about abuse allegations against Woody Allen includes a disturbing 1992 video with a 7-year-old Dylan Farrow making allegations against her father. @MeredithBlake reports.
(Warning: this story discusses child abuse) latimes.com/entertainment-…
The video, recorded in the days following the alleged abuse, may be the most explosive evidence presented in the series.
Allen has claimed it is a “ludicrous and wicked cassette," and has denied all allegations of sexual abuse. latimes.com/entertainment-…
“We went into your room and we went into the attic,” says the young Farrow, who is busy cutting paper with a pair of scissors. “Then he started telling me weird things. Then secretly he went into the attic.” latimes.com/entertainment-…
Though only 33 years old, Yano qualified because she is the mother of 15-month-old triplets with chronic lung disease.
She showed staffers a letter from the Department of Developmental Services, and another from one of the agency’s regional centers. latimes.com/california/sto…
In her arms, she held a stack of medical records that offered more proof, including a prescription for her children’s oxygen.
Breaking: After L.A. Times investigation, #GoldenGlobes voters vow to "bring in Black members."
The HFPA's statement comes just days before its virtual awards ceremony this Sunday latimes.com/entertainment-…
The absence of any Black members in a group that votes on one of the industry's most high-profile awards has drawn widespread attention on social media and elsewhere #GoldenGlobeslatimes.com/entertainment-…
In an exclusive investigation, the Los Angeles Times learned about the members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn., and how they courted voters this year.
In a new interview, a lawyer for Britney Spears' father pushed back on the narrative that Jamie Spears is a "villain" in the conservatorship case latimes.com/entertainment-…
“I understand that every story wants to have a villain, but people have it so wrong here,” Jamie Spears' attorney Vivian Lee Thoreen said Thursday.
“This is a story about a fiercely loyal, loving and dedicated father who rescued his daughter from a life-threatening situation. People were harming her, and they were exploiting her,” Thoreen said latimes.com/entertainment-…
On Wednesday, Los Angeles Major Eric Garcetti honored Thompson, “a native Angeleno whose words tell stories, unite communities and open perspectives,” as the city’s head poet for the year 2021.