quote:

A case of the omicron coronavirus variant has been identified in a San Francisco resident — the first in the country, officials said Wednesday.

The case was detected in someone who traveled to the U.S. from South Africa on Nov. 22, and tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday, officials said.

That person, who had been healthy, was fully vaccinated with the Moderna vaccine — but not a booster — and developed mild symptoms upon their return, according to San Francisco public health director Grant Colfax.

“They did the right thing and got tested,” Colfax said at a press conference on Wednesday outside San Francisco’s City Hall. The person quarantined and close contacts have been tested.

All close contacts to the person have been contacted and tested negative, according to a joint message from the San Francisco and California Departments of Public Health and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The variant was discovered through genomic sequencing at UCSF.

quote:

Dr. Charles Chiu of UCSF said that he heard about the sample at 3pm on Tuesday and received it by 8pm, and ran a fast molecular test. "We were able to get the results of that test in 2 hours,” he said.

Color Lab in San Francisco said it had administered the test that ultimately ended up being positive for omicron, and the time from the initial test to confirmation of the strain took 30 hours.

quote:

Newsom and Dr. Mark Ghaly, the state's top health official, shared details about the new omicron case while visiting a booster clinic in the Central Valley.

They said the person who tested positive after traveling to South Africa was a San Francisco resident between the ages of 18 and 49 who had been fully vaccinated and was not yet eligible for a booster shot.

"The person is doing well with mild symptoms," Newsom said. "Expect nothing less than a full recovery."

quote:

A second case of the Omicron variant has been identified in the U.S., detected in a Minnesota resident who had traveled to New York City for a convention attended by tens of thousands of people. Health authorities in Minnesota said Thursday they're working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and officials in New York City to investigate.

The Minnesota man developed "mild symptoms" on November 22, after traveling to the Anime NYC 2021 convention in New York City, which hosted 53,000 attendees from November 18 through 20.

While the first U.S. case of the Omicron variant was identified in a traveler from South Africa, Minnesota's case appears to be the first infection in the U.S. that does not involve travel abroad.

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This plan includes:

Boosters for All Adults

Vaccinations to Protect Our Kids and Keep Our Schools Open

Expanding Free At-Home Testing for Americans

Stronger Public Health Protocols for Safe International Travel

Protections in Workplaces to Keep Our Economy Open

Rapid Response Teams to Help Battle Rising Cases

Supplying Treatment Pills to Help Prevent Hospitalizations and Death

Continued Commitment to Global Vaccination Efforts

Steps to Ensure We Are Prepared for All Scenarios

quote:

Originally posted by QuirtEvans:
I have the same hope you expressed earlier ... more transmissible, so it squeezes out Delta, but less severe. Time will tell.

quote:

convention in New York City, which hosted 53,000 attendees

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all visitors were required to show proof of vaccination and wear masks indoors.

quote:

Originally posted by Amanda:
Just what I was afraid of.

...Except that it is apparently far more dangerous than previous variants.

At best, it looks look we are going to be forced to take recurrent tweaked vaccines.

I wonder if it wouldn't be more economical to crank out billions of new vaccines active against all previous forms plus the new variants (the new one especially) to send to Africa and other un/under-treated areas rather than original vaccine.

Why treat them with that one (oh so belatedly) when it appears that the brand new mutant appears likely resistant to both Delta and the early virus?

Seems te old one is already outdated.

(After testing to see if that's true, of course).

Otherwise, this is quite a merry-go-round. For once I'd like to see the US (and other wealthier nations) act proactively.

quote:

Originally posted by Amanda:
Just what I was afraid of.

...Except that it is apparently far more dangerous than previous variants.

At best, it looks look we are going to be forced to take recurrent tweaked vaccines.

I wonder if it wouldn't be more economical to crank out billions of new vaccines active against all previous forms plus the new variants (the new one especially) to send to Africa and other un/under-treated areas rather than original vaccine.

Why treat them with that one (oh so belatedly) when it appears that the brand new mutant is resistant to both the vaccine against Delta and the early virus?

Seems the original one is already outdated.

(After testing to see if that's true, of course).

Otherwise, this is quite a merry-go-round. For once I'd like to see the US (and other wealthier nations) act proactively.

quote:

Daniel:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Amanda:
Just what I was afraid of. Frowner

...Except that it is apparently far more dangerous than previous variants.

At best, it looks look we are going to be forced to take recurrent tweaked vaccines.

I wonder if it wouldn't be more economical to crank out billions of new vaccines active against all previous forms plus the new variants (the new one especially) to send to Africa and other un/under-treated areas rather than original vaccine.

Why treat them with that one (oh so belatedly) when it appears that the brand new mutant is resistant to both the vaccine against Delta and the early virus?

Seems the original one is already outdated.

(After testing to see if that's true, of course).

Otherwise, this is quite a merry-go-round. For once I'd like to see the US (and other wealthier nations) act proactively.