US detects first case of Omicron coronavirus variant
- Top disease expert Dr Fauci says the patient was a person in California who returned from South Africa on November 22
- The patient, who is between 18 and 49, was vaccinated but had not received a booster; their close contacts have all tested negative
The US recorded its first confirmed case of the Omicron variant on Wednesday – in a vaccinated traveller who returned to California after a trip to South Africa – as scientists around the world race to establish whether the new, mutant version of the coronavirus is more dangerous than previous ones.
Dr Anthony Fauci, the United States’ top infectious disease expert, made the announcement at the White House.
“We knew it was just a matter of time before the first case of Omicron would be detected in the United States,” he said.
The infected person was identified as a traveller who had returned from South Africa on November 22, developed mild symptoms and tested positive Monday. Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco obtained a sample from the patient Tuesday evening and worked feverishly overnight to assemble the genetic sequence.
The person, who had had the two doses of the Moderna shot but had not been vaccinated long enough to receive a booster shot, is improving and agreed to remain in quarantine, California officials said.