BREAKING NEWS: Second US case of Omicron COVID-19 variant detected in Minnesota resident who had recently traveled to New York City
- A Minnesota resident was discovered by the state department of health to be infected with the Omicron Covid variant
- The person had recently traveled to New York City, according to an official report
- It is the second case detected in the U.S., and comes one day after the first case was found in San Francisco, California
A second case of the Omicron COVID-19 variant has been detected in the U.S.
The Minnesota Department of Health confirmed the case on Thursday in a resident who had recently traveled to New York City.
It comes a day after health officials in San Francisco, California, confirmed the first U.S. Omicron case on Wednesday.
The variant was initially detected by South African officials last week, and experts are uncertain of its initial origins.
It is believed to be highly infectious and potentially vaccine evasive due to its many mutations.
The second U.S. case of the Omicron variant has been detected in Minnesota. The state health department reports that the infected person had recently traveled to New York City
‘Minnesota’s nation-leading genome sequencing infrastructure and strong testing network have allowed the state to quickly track the COVID-19 virus and better understand its spread. Today, those tools detected a case of the Omicron variant in Minnesota,’ said Governor Tim Walz in a statement.
‘This news is concerning, but it is not a surprise.
‘We know that this virus is highly infectious and moves quickly throughout the world. Minnesotans know what to do to keep each other safe now — get the vaccine, get tested, wear a mask indoors, and get a booster. Together, we can fight this virus and help keep Minnesotans safe.’
Not much is known about the variant just yet, but many health officials fear the worst.
The variant was first detected in South Africa last week, but is believed to have originated in either Botswana or in a European country.
It has 50 mutations, including 30 on the spike protein that the COVID-19 vaccines target to prevent infection.
Because of these many infections, vaccine experts fear the shots could be rendered ineffective against the new variant.
Nothing can be said for certain yet, though, and more information is expected to be gathered about the variant over the next few weeks.
‘We still have more to learn about Omicron, but the most important thing we can do right now is to use the tools we have available to make it as hard as possible for this virus to spread,’ Minnesota Health Commisioner Jan Malcolm said.
‘In addition to vaccination and boosters, we can slow the spread of this variant and all COVID-19 variants by using the tried-and-true prevention methods of wearing masks, staying home when sick, and getting tested when appropriate.’
This is a breaking news story and will be updated
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