Omicron Detected In These 16 States

Topline Cases of the recently detected coronavirus variant omicron have been identified in over 40 countries and 17 states as of Sunday — numbers “likely to rise” in the United States, according to the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People wait for Covid-19 tests in New York City on Nov. 23, 2021. (Photo by Wang Ying/Xinhua via … [+] Getty Images) Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images Key Facts The state of Georgia confirmed its first omicron case in an Atlanta resident who had recently traveled from South Africa, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Sunday. California was the first state to report a case of omicron Wednesday, and others have subsequently been found in Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin. Dr. Rochelle Walensky of the CDC told This Week Sunday that the agency is following the cases closely and knows omicron has more mutations that previous variants, but that it is not yet clear how transmissible omicron is or how effective existing Covid vaccines are against it. She stressed that the main concern is still the dominant delta variant, which she said accounts for about 99.9% of new Covid-19 cases in the U.S. Key Background More than 40 countries have identified cases of omicron since it was first reported by South African health authorities, where the variant is spreading fast. It’s also been found in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Saudi Arabia, the United… Click below to read the full story from Forbes
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