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 California, Colorado and Minnesota have found cases of the
coronavirus variant among patients who were fully vaccinated and
developed mild symptoms, while Hawaii reported a case with an
unvaccinated person, who had moderate symptoms.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul told a news conference one of the
state's the cases involved a 67-year-old Long Island woman with mild
symptoms of a headache and cough who had recently returned from
South Africa.
The woman tested negative upon return on Nov. 25 but tested positive
for the coronavirus on Tuesday, and her results were sent to a lab
for further examination.
She had "some vaccination history" but it wasn't yet clear if she
had received one or two doses or a booster shot, Hochul said.
The other four people were New York City residents but further
information was not yet available, the governor said.
"No cause for alarm," Hochul said. "We don't have more information
at this time but we suspect there will be more cases emerging, and
the best thing everyone can do is to realize we are not defenseless
against this variant at all, that vaccines, we know, are going to
ensure there is less severe symptoms."
The Minnesota patient is the first known U.S. case of community
transmission of the Omicron variant, found in a fully vaccinated man
who had recently traveled to New York City and attended a
conference.
Hawaii on Thursday also confirmed a case of community spread. The
infected person, who had no history of travel, had previously had
COVID-19, the Department of Health said.
To combat the spread of Omicron, President Joe Biden on Thursday
announced new testing requirements for international travelers and
promised in the coming weeks that Americans would have access to
free, rapid at-home COVID-19 testing.
Colorado health officials on Thursday said a woman with the Omicron
variant had recently returned from a trip to southern Africa.
California on Wednesday reported the first U.S. case of the variant
in a fully vaccinated traveler who had been in South Africa. Los
Angeles County on Thursday confirmed California's second case of the
variant.
After determining the Minnesota case had a New York connection - the
man attended an anime convention at New York City's Javits Center
from Nov. 19 to 21 - health officials immediately activated the
"Test and Trace Corps" to contact conference attendees in an effort
to contain the spread, said Mayor Bill de Blasio.
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“We are aware of a case of the Omicron variant
identified in Minnesota that is associated with
travel to a conference in New York City, and we
should assume there is community spread of the
variant in our city," the mayor said in a
statement.
'MANY MORE CASES TO COME'
Dr. Leana Wen, a public health professor at
George Washington University and former
Baltimore health commissioner, said it was only
a matter of time before more Omicron cases are
detected in the United States.
The Minnesota case "means that there is spread
in the United States. There will be many more
cases to come," Wen said on Twitter.
Scientists are investigating Omicron, which has
been labeled as a variant of concern by the
World Health Organization, to see if it is more
transmissible than the Delta variant that is now
prevalent and if it causes more severe disease.
They are also studying how well current vaccines
work against it.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said the news of the
case in the state was "concerning, but it is not
a surprise," adding that "We know that this
virus is highly infectious and moves quickly
throughout the world."
Walz urged residents to get vaccinated and wear
masks indoors. The best response to the new
variant is the same as it's been throughout the
pandemic: get a COVID-19 shot, he said.
About 60% of the total U.S. population, or 196
million people, have been fully vaccinated, one
of the lowest rates among wealthy nations. More
than 786,000 people https://tmsnrt.rs/2WTOZDR
have died from COVID-19 in the United States,
including 37,000 in November alone.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru, Tyler
Clifford in New York, and Chris Gallagher and
Susan Heavey in Washington; Additional reporting
by Barbara Goldberg in New York; Editing by
Caroline Humer, Frances Kerry, Lisa Shumaker,
Aurora Ellis and William Mallard)
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