CDPH: New COVID-19 variant not found in SLO County as reported

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY, Calif. - The California Department of Public Health says a new variant of COVID-19 was not detected in San Luis Obispo County, contrary to an earlier announcement from the department.

On Sunday, the department said San Luis Obispo County was one of 11 counties where the L452R variant of COVID-19 had been detected. Then on Thursday, CDPH released a statement saying it was determined the variant had not yet been identified in San Luis Obispo County as previously reported.

San Luis Obispo County Public Health Officer, Dr. Penny Borenstein, first raised questions about the report during her COVID-19 briefing on Wednesday.

"A press release stated that San Luis Obispo County has also had a number of specimens of this variant. Right before I came here, that was called into question, and we're trying to determine if, in fact, some of these specimens that were claimed to have been from our county are indeed from our county. We've gotten counter information from the state laboratory, so we are digging into that," said Borenstein during the news conference.

Borenstein said the county doesn't conduct its own genomic testing and random specimens were tested at a variety of labs across the state.

She said in the event the variant is detected in San Luis Obispo County, it appears the vaccine is still effective against it.