A person in California who had been vaccinated against COVID-19 became the first in the U.S. to have an identified case of the omicron variant, the White House announced Wednesday as scientists continue to study the risks posed by the new virus strain.
Dr. Anthony Fauci told reporters that the person was a traveler who returned from South Africa on Nov. 22 and tested positive on Nov. 29. Dr. Fauci said the person was vaccinated but had not received a booster shot and was experiencing “mild symptoms.”
The first U.S. case of the omicron variant has been identified in California in a traveler who returned from South Africa on Nov. 22, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday. The patient had mild symptoms that were improving and was in isolation, officials said.
Much remains unknown about the highly mutated variant, which scientists fear could be more transmissible and more resistant to vaccines. The new variant has been identified in more than 20 countries since it was first identified in southern Africa last week.
The first known US case is a fully vaccinated person in California who returned to the United States from South Africa on November 22 and tested positive seven days later.
The person had mild symptoms and was in self-quarantine, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease official, told reporters at the White House.
Rochelle P. Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said during a White House coronavirus briefing that as part of the ramped-up efforts to ward off new variants, the U.S. has significantly increased genomic sequencing to 80,000 samples a week, more than any other country.
International passengers are expected to soon be required to provide a negative test result within 24 hours of their departure, US media reports have said.
President Joe Biden is expected to announce the stricter testing requirement and possible additional measures on Thursday.
On Monday, the president said he believes the new variant is “not a cause for panic”, adding that it was unlikely to result in domestic lockdowns.
While the World Health Organization (WHO) and the US have deemed Omicron a “variant of concern”, it is still not clear whether it is associated with more transmission or more risk of evading vaccines.
The US and other countries have already imposed a ban on travel from eight African countries: South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, and Malawi.
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