Genview Medical assistants Diagnosis Crystal Leyva (L) and Keitia Perez perform COVID-19 sampling tests on laboratory technicians, at Foxconn Assembly on August 13, 2021 in Houston, Texas.
Brandon Bells | beautiful pictures
Several southern US states, including Texas, Georgia, Louisiana and Florida, have confirmed cases of the Covid-19 omicron variant because the highly mutated strain takes root in half of the US states.
According to Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 25 US states have detected cases of the new strain of the bacteria, a number that health officials expect to grow in the coming years. the coming weeks. The omicron cases come as the country grapples with a wave of lowland infections that have pushed more than 100,000 Covid cases a day, up 16% from the previous week and up, according to John Hopkins University data. 23% since before Thanksgiving.
Scientists are still racing to answer questions about the transmissibility, severity and impact of omicrons on vaccine effectiveness. Meanwhile, state, commercial, and academic laboratories across the United States are ramping up genome sequencing efforts to detect more variant cases.
Georgia
Georgia public health officials have reported three variant cases since Thursday, all of whom live in the Atlanta metropolitan area.
The first two cases are announced in a press release on Sunday. One patient developed mild symptoms and tested positive for Covid after traveling from South Africa. The state health department also said it was notified on December 3 of a second patient, who tested positive in New Jersey and is now recovering there.
The department did not detail the symptoms or severity of their infections.
The third case was confirmed on Thursday in an unvaccinated individual with no recent history of international travel. The patient is showing mild Covid symptoms and is isolated at home.
The Georgia Department of Public Health is conducting contact tracing to identify close contacts of infected patients, according to a press release Thursday.
State Health Commissioner Kathleen Toomey said vaccination was “key” to preventing the spread of Covid and the emergence of variants like omicrons, according to a press release. She also emphasized that delta is still responsible for the majority of infections in the US
“It is also important to remember that even as Omicron is emerging, we are still in the midst of a pandemic that is being driven by the Delta variant,” Toomey said.
CDC Director, Dr. Rochelle Walenksy, said Delta still accounts for more than 99% of all genetic cases in the US.
Georgia recorded a seven-day moving average of 1,334 positive tests for the virus on Thursday, after the number bottomed out below 1,000 for most of November. according to data from CDC. Positive tests have steadily increased since Thanksgiving but are still far below the seven-day average of 7,000 to 9,000 seen in August.
Louisiana
Louisiana public health officials have reported 37 cases of the omicron variant as of Thursday. However, only three cases have been confirmed and 34 are still “probable,” the state health department said in a press release.
The first probable case was reported and identified on December 3 in a Greater New Orleans area resident who recently traveled within the United States.
An additional 16 possible cases were reported on Wednesday, while 20 were revealed only on Thursday.
At least 28 probable cases and 2 confirmed cases are residents of the Greater New Orleans area. The three possible cases are in patients from the Baton Rouge area. Two possible cases are in patients from Northwest Louisiana.
One confirmed case is also in a resident from Northshore, a neighborhood in Louisiana.
The state health department did not provide further information on the severity of the infections. The department only noted that another patient from the Acadiana region had recently traveled internationally but did not require hospitalization after testing positive.
“These new Omicron cases will be a reminder of the ongoing threat of COVID, especially as we get ready to focus on the holidays,” said Dr. Joseph Kanter, State Health Officer The state said in a press release, urging Louisiana citizens to get vaccinated and boosted.
Louisiana recorded 439 new cases on Thursday, according to data from CDC, still below the October peak when the seven-day average hit 530.
Texas
The Texas Department of Public Health confirmed its first case of omicrons on Monday in a resident of Harris County, where Houston is located. The department noted that the patient was an adult woman but did not provide further information about her symptoms or when she tested positive.
Harris County Public Health and the Texas Department of Health Services are currently investigating the incident.
“It’s normal for the virus to mutate and how quickly Omicron spreads in southern Africa, we’re not surprised it’s showing up here,” said Dr John Hellerstedt, state health commissioner.
Texas recorded a seven-day moving average of 2,554 cases on Thursday, according to data from CDC. This is much lower than in previous months, with the seven-day moving average hitting 9,000 in October and 19,000 in September.
Florida
Two cases of the omicron variant were reported in Florida on Thursday, a spokesman for the state’s department of public health told CNBC.
A department spokesperson was briefed on the first patient at James A. Haley Veterans Hospital in Tampa, noting that they were unable to provide details on the case.
Hospital recorded in a statement for WFLA that the patient is experiencing mild symptoms and has recently traveled internationally.
“Our suppliers were able to rapidly detect, test, validate and add this data to our growing understanding of this strain,” the hospital said in the statement, according to the statement. WFLA.
The spokesperson added a second case from St. Lucie was reported to the CDC by the state health department. They did not provide additional details about the case.
When asked about reports of new omicron cases at a news conference on Tuesday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said he would not impose lockdown measures in the state.
“In Florida, we’re not going to let them lock you up, we’re not going to let them restrict you, we’re not going to let them impose mandates, we’re not going to let them close schools, we’re going to protect defend your freedom to make your decisions,” DeSantis told reporters.
“And it doesn’t matter to me if someone is worried, if they’re scared about the omicron and they want to lock the door or they want to isolate, that’s entirely their decision in a free society, but you don’t force it. to put Fauci-ism nationally or statewide, that’s wrong,” he continued.
As of Thursday, Florida had a seven-day moving average of 1,873 positive tests for the virus, according to data from the CDC. This number has been increasing over the past few weeks, last hitting 1,800 new cases per day on October 28.
