The first case of COVID-19 omicron variant in America was identified in San Francisco, according to the San Francisco Department of Public Health (UCSF) Wednesday.
The symptoms were confirmed by Gov. Gavin Newsom stated this at a press conference. Officials from the city said that the person had mild symptoms.
At a Wednesday press conference, Dr. Grant Colfax, San Francisco director of public health, stated that the person had received two shots of Moderna but not a booster shot. The person is self-quarantining.
“The symptoms were very light,” Dr. Peter Chinhong, an infectious diseases expert at UCSF where the genomic sequencing was performed to identify the case, said. It’s consistent with other reports from around the globe that people are experiencing mild symptoms. This is probably just the beginning of many more that we will be hearing about.
@CAPublicHealth and @SF_DPH have identified a case with the Omicron variant.
There is no reason for us to panic as we learn more about Omicron. However, we must remain vigilant.
We are experts in COVID protection. Get vaccinated, wear a mask and get your booster.
Late last month, the Biden administration took steps to limit travel from southern Africa. This is where the variant was first discovered and has been widely spread. A number of clusters of cases were also identified in around two dozen countries.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was taking steps to tighten U.S. testing requirements for travelers from abroad. This included requiring travelers to undergo a test within one day of arriving on a flight to the U.S., regardless of their vaccination status. It was also looking into mandating post-arrival testing.
Officials claimed that these measures were only meant to “buy time” for the country in order to learn more about the variant and take the appropriate precautions. However, it was obvious that omicron would arrive in the U.S. due to its transmissibility.
