The head of the Secretariat of Health in Baja California, Alonso Pérez Rico, confirmed the presence of the UK variant (B.1.1.7) and the South African variant (b.1.351) in the State this Saturday.

Regarding the latter, he commented that it was identified in a patient from the Mexicali Valley on April 27, 2021, who had no history of having traveled to South Africa, so "it is expected that it is already of local circulation", said the Secretary.

"What does that mean? that both the South African variants as well as the B.1.1.7 (United Kingdom), and as the Brazilian P.1. were already identified in the territory of Baja California, therefore, the five high consequence epidemiological follow-up variants we already have them in the territory", he added.

It is worth mentioning that he did not provide further details on the patients who presented the Brazilian and U.K. variants.

As it is recalled, last April 8 of this year, the head of this agency informed that the variants from California, United States (B.1.427 and B.1.429) were already located in the Entity; therefore, in addition to the previous ones, he mentioned that there are five variants in the region.

Finally, Pérez Rico said that the two variants recently confirmed in Baja California could cause the third wave of infections, as they are transmitted 50% faster and are more lethal; besides they have the capacity to decrease the neutralization by antibodies of previously infected or vaccinated patients.

Therefore, the authority asked the population not to stop taking care of themselves, and to maintain today more than ever the prevention measures, such as the use of masks, social distancing, hand washing, and avoiding crowds.

As mentioned, this epigenetic surveillance of SARS-CoV 2 in Baja California was carried out thanks to a collaborative effort between the State Secretariat of Health, the Institute of Epidemiological Diagnosis and Reference (INDRE), the Autonomous University of Baja California (UABC), the Public Health department of Imperial Valley, and the Naval Health Research Center (NHRC) of San Diego.

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