A case of the variant coronavirus omicron was detected in the state of Minnesota, in northern USA, in a person who had been to New York but had not recently traveled abroad, local health authorities announced Thursday.
This announcement indicates that the omicron has begun to be transmitted between people in USA, reported AFP.
Like the first omicron case detected in the United States, confirmed Wednesday in California, the patient in Minnesota was vaccinated and had mild symptoms from which he has now recovered, officials said.
The man returned to the metropolitan area of Minneapolis from an “anime” convention in New York City, held November 19-21, before developing symptoms on November 22 and getting tested two days later.
“This news is concerning, but it is not a surprise,” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said in a statement, praising his state’s genomic sequencing and virus testing efforts.
Community broadcast begins
Community transmission in USA was expected by epidemiologists, despite the decision of Washington to ban travelers from various southern African nations, after South Africa reported the identification of the new strain of the virus on November 24.
This second contagion of omicron in USA It was made public a day after the Centers for Disease and Prevention (CDC) announced the first confirmed case in the country after testing a fully vaccinated traveler who had recently returned from South Africa and was recovering from mild symptoms.
The health authorities of USA They are urging everyone over the age of five to get the coronavirus vaccine and booster doses once they are in the right range.
Scientists hope that ongoing laboratory tests will soon reveal the extent to which omicron eludes the protection of vaccines, but they hope they will remain at least partially effective, especially against serious diseases from covid-19.
Anthony Fauci, a scientific adviser to the US government, said on Wednesday that experience with other variants of concern, such as delta, had shown that boosters were a good idea because they increase the amount of antibodies in a person’s immune system, some of them which will continue to be effective in stopping new variants.
KEEP READING
United States Resumes “Stay in Mexico” Program for Asylum Seekers
The story of the millionaire who invented a homemade vaccine vs. Covid-19 and applied it without permission to 50 people
