First known Omicron case in the US detected in California

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• The CDC has confirmed the first US case of the new coronavirus variant called omicron in Northern California.
• It is discovered in a fully vaccinated patient who returned to the United States from South Africa on Nov. 22.
• Health officials reported the Covid patient had mild and improving symptoms.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the first U.S. case of the Omicron coronavirus variant in California.

It has been identified in a fully vaccinated individual who returned from South Africa on November 22, before travel bans were imposed.

Dr. Anthony Fauci said the patient tested positive for Covid-19 on November 29. The patient is self-quarantining and close contacts have tested negative for Covid-19 so far.

The patient is reportedly experiencing “mild symptoms, which are improving at this point,” Fauci said.

Dr. Grant Colfax, San Francisco’s director of public health, said the patient had not been administered with a booster shot.

The California and San Francisco public health departments confirmed the case was caused by the Omicron variant through genomic sequencing conducted at the University of California at San Francisco, and the sequence was confirmed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Color Health said in a statement it returned the positive test result through a San Francisco Covid-19 testing program, and Omicron was identified in under 30 hours “from the time of collection to strain confirmation.”

The World Health Organization designates Omicron a “variant of concern.”

In a technical brief released this week, WHO noted that the variant poses a “very high” global risk. The variant was first identified by scientists in South Africa and has since been detected in several countries.

Scientists are working to determine how transmissible the variant is, how sick it makes people and how well current vaccines work against it. Until more information is learned about the variant, the United States restricted travel from South Africa and seven other countries.

On Monday, President Joe Biden called the variant “a cause for concern, not a cause for panic,” saying “we’ll have to face this new threat just as we face those who have come before it.”

The Delta variant remains the dominant variant in the United States.

Source: Reuters