Three states in the United States have identified new cases of the omicron variant of coronavirus. On Thursday, health officials from Minnesota and Colorado both announced a case of the new, highly mutated variant, a day after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the first individual to be detected with omicron in California.
All three cases have mild symptoms or are recovering, health officials say.
Minnesota’s Department of Health said an adult male living in Hennepin County was found to have the variant. He was vaccinated about six months ago and had received his booster shot in early November, department officials said during a briefing Thursday.
He had mild symptoms on November 22, which have since been resolved.
He told the Minnesota Department of Health that he had traveled to New York City to attend the Anime NYC 2021 Congress at the Javits Center on May 19-21. November.
The health authorities in Minnesota are working with the health authorities in New York to determine who the man may have had contact with. He had not traveled internationally, and Minnesota Health Department officials said it is highly likely that the virus was transmitted at the convention.
A statement from the Javits Center, which at one time was a New York City vaccination center, said visitors are required to show proof of vaccination and wear masks indoors.
Because the Minnesota man attended the convention, the variant is likely to spread in New York City, said Health Commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi, on Twitter on Thursday, urging convention attendees to be tested immediately and take precautions such as wearing a mask and social distance.
A person close to the man in Minnesota has tested positive for coronavirus with a quick test, officials said. The result is under investigation and the person is isolating himself, they said.
Governor Tim Walz said “the news is worrying, but it’s not a surprise.”
“We know this virus is highly contagious and is spreading rapidly around the world,” he said.
A female resident of Colorado has also contracted the variant of the virus, the state Department of Health confirmed Thursday. The woman, who lives in Arapahoe County, had recently traveled to South Africa and was fully vaccinated, but had not yet received a booster shot.
She experiences mild symptoms and isolates herself in her home, according to the Colorado Department of Health and Environment.
On Wednesday, the CDC and the California Department of Public Health and the San Francisco Department of Public Health identified a traveler returning from South Africa on November 22 as the first confirmed case of the omicron variant in the United States – three days before scientists in that country announced that they had identified the new variant.
The person in California, an adult under the age of 50, developed symptoms a few days after arriving in the United States and was tested on November 28, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a briefing Wednesday. The test again came positive for Covid-19 on Monday, November 29th.
“The person who was fully vaccinated and had mild symptoms that are improving is in self-quarantine and has since tested positive,” the CDC reported in a statement.
Close contacts in the California case have undergone Covid tests, and so far no one has tested positive. The person from California was fully vaccinated with two doses of the Moderna vaccine, but had not been eligible to receive a booster shot.
The Omicron variant has a high number of mutations, suggesting that it may spread equally or more easily than the delta variant, which accounts for 99.9 percent of Covid cases in the United States.
Researchers have warned that it is still unclear whether omicron is more dangerous than other versions of the virus, which has killed more than 5 million people worldwide. It is also unknown how well the vaccines and treatments would work against the variant.
It said the World Health Organization Monday that the global risk of the new variant is “very high.”
Meanwhile, public health experts continue to recommend proven ways of Covid protection: vaccination and a booster, wearing masks indoors and in crowded spaces, and continuing physical distance.
The variant has been detected in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Italy, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, Canada, Australia, Israel and Hong Kong, among others.
While world leaders and health experts are urging people to get vaccinated as soon as possible, some countries are struggling to inoculate their populations due to lack of access.
Follow NBC HEALTH on Twitter & Facebook.
Post a Comment