Another Omicron Case is Detected in the US, This Time in a Minnesota Resident

• Dec. 2, 2021Updated 2:47 p.m. ET

Minnesota wellness officials said connected Thursday that a antheral who lives successful the authorities was infected with the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. The man, who officials said had precocious traveled to New York City, represents the 2nd known lawsuit of the variant successful the United States.

Leaders successful Minnesota said the find was unsurprising, and credited robust illness surveillance systems for uncovering it.

“This quality is concerning, but it is not a surprise,” Gov. Tim Walz said successful a statement. “We cognize that this microorganism is highly infectious and moves rapidly passim the world. Minnesotans cognize what to bash to support each different harmless present — get the vaccine, get tested, deterioration a disguise indoors, and get a booster.”

Much remains chartless astir Omicron, including whether it is much transmissible and susceptible of causing much superior illness. There is immoderate grounds the variant tin reinfect radical much readily.

According to the Minnesota Department of Health, the antheral is simply a nonmigratory of Hennepin County, which includes Minneapolis. He had been vaccinated, and helium got a booster shot successful aboriginal November. He is nary longer feeling symptoms, the section said.

The antheral archetypal developed mild symptoms connected Nov. 22, soon aft traveling to New York City for the Anime NYC 2021 normal astatine the Javits Center, the section said. Officials said the antheral had not been extracurricular the United States recently.

He was tested for the microorganism connected Nov. 24. The state’s Public Health Laboratory determined precocious Wednesday nighttime that helium had the Omicron variant, officials said during a telephone connected Thursday.

“Suffice to say, everybody astir the state is looking for accusation and connected alert” for the Omicron variant, said Jan Malcolm, the state’s wellness commissioner. “It’s very, precise aboriginal hours.”

Minnesota officials said they were moving with New York City and national wellness officials to look into the case, and that the antheral was cooperating with lawsuit investigators, and pursuing nationalist wellness officials’ instructions to isolate himself.

One of his adjacent contacts has since tested affirmative for Covid-19, officials said, but due to the fact that a accelerated trial was used, scientists person not yet determined whether that person, who is besides successful Minnesota, had the Omicron variant arsenic well.

Genetic sequencing is required to find which variant a diligent has. In caller months the United States has greatly expanded sequencing, but the process takes clip — astatine the Centers for Disease Control, typically astir 10 days — to output results. Currently, according to the agency’s director, Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, astir 14 percent of each affirmative P.C.R. tests successful the U.S. are being sequenced.

On Wednesday, California wellness officials announced that a San Francisco resident had been infected with the Omicron variant — a uncovering they emphasized was inevitable, arsenic they worked to incorporate alarm implicit the variant’s find successful the United States.

Experts person said since the Omicron variant was archetypal identified that it was lone a substance of clip earlier the variant made its mode to the United States, and that erstwhile a lawsuit was detected, galore much would astir apt soon beryllium found.

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“I’m personally amazed it took this long” for the archetypal lawsuit to appear, Dr. Bob Wachter, a prof and seat of the section of medicine astatine the University of California, San Francisco, said connected Wednesday. “Today it’s successful California, time it’ll beryllium respective different states.”

Though the caller Omicron variant is grabbing headlines, officials warned that the earlier Delta variant of the coronavirus remains prevalent and is inactive spreading successful the United States, posing a sedate hazard particularly to unvaccinated Americans, who are overmuch much apt than vaccinated radical to go severely sick if they are infected.

In Minnesota, Covid hospitalizations person been steadily climbing since the summer, straining wellness attraction systems and pushing wellness workers to the brink arsenic intensive attraction units person filled with patients.

“The Minnesota surge astatine this constituent is Delta — we cognize that from our surveillance and sequencing work,” Ms. Malcolm said connected Thursday. “We bash anticipation this further quality underscores the urgency of paying attraction and knowing Covid is precise overmuch inactive with us.”

Sixty-three percent of each Minnesota residents are afloat vaccinated, according to C.D.C. data, and successful Hennepin County, the fig is 67 percent.

Ms. Malcolm said that determination were nary statewide pandemic restrictions successful effect for businesses successful Minnesota, nor immoderate statewide mandate that radical deterioration masks successful nationalist indoor settings. She added that she did not judge that immoderate “further regulatory approaches” would beryllium indispensable to negociate the dispersed of the Omicron variant. But she urged Minnesotans to instrumentality precautions voluntarily: Mask up portion indoors, and get vaccinated.

“We consciousness similar we’ve got the tools to negociate this and enactment up of this,” she said.