EThe United States yesterday detected its first case of the omicron variant of the coronavirus, it is a person in California who was already vaccinated against Covid-19, the White House reported as scientists continue to study the risks posed by the new strain of the virus.
Dr Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease expert, told reporters that the person was a traveler who returned from South Africa on November 22 and tested positive on November 29. He added that the person is vaccinated but has not received his booster and was experiencing “mild symptoms.” The government has begun to take steps to restrict entry to the country for people from southern Africa, where the variant was first identified and where it has spread the most.
Cases of omicron have been detected in a score of other countries.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States (CDC) is taking measures for those arriving from abroad, including requiring that they take the Covid-19 test the day before boarding the plane, whatever their vaccination status. Also consider requiring post-arrival proof.
Authorities acknowledge that those measures would only serve to give experts time to learn more about the new variant, and that it was only a matter of time until it reached the United States.
Many questions remain about the variant, including whether it is more contagious, causes more severe symptoms, or is able to evade the vaccine. Fauci has said that scientists will know more in about two to four weeks, during which time they will be able to examine and grow samples of the virus in laboratories.
The detection of the first case of the variant in the United States is recorded just the day before President Joe Biden plans to unveil his strategy to combat the virus. So far the president has tried to calm fears, stating that the alternative should be “a cause of consternation, but not a cause of panic.”
Biden and prominent government spokesmen have been stepping up their calls for the population to get vaccinated, and those already vaccinated have been asked to get the booster shot.
Brazil has three cases
Brazil confirmed yesterday its third case of the omicron coronavirus variant and began to analyze possible measures to contain the virus, such as suspending flights and requiring proof of vaccination from passengers.
A passenger from Ethiopia tested positive for Covid-19 upon landing in Sao Paulo on November 27, the Brazilian health secretariat reported. The 29-year-old man is inoculated with two doses of the Pfizer vaccine and is in good health, officials said.
The news came a day after Brazilian health officials reported confirmed cases of the omicron variant in two people who arrived from South Africa, the first from omicron in Latin America.
Much is still unknown about the new variant, even if it is more contagious, as some health authorities suspect, if it causes more severe disease, and if it can elude the vaccine.
EXPLANATION
What is a viral variant?
A variant of a virus is one that has mutated in a way that increases its spread or severity compared to the original strain that emerged in Wuhan, China. “RNA viruses, like the coronavirus, can mutate when they replicate, especially when circulating at high speed,” explained Dr. Monica Gandhi, a professor of medicine at the University of California-San Francisco.
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