There is a sign outside of a hospital in New York City.
The Minnesota department of health confirmed the second case of the omicron Covid variant in a resident who recently returned from New York City.
The man, who was fully vaccine-free, traveled to New York City to attend the convention of his favorite cartoon character. A person who recently returned from a trip to South Africa was the first omicron case in California.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said they had not yet confirmed any cases. She said at a press conference in Manhattan that it was likely that someone would test positive soon.
She recommended that conference attendees get tested because they were required to get vaccinations.
The patient in California who tested positive for omicron was fully vaccined and had mild symptoms. The person who is between 18 and 49 years old had not received a booster dose because they were not six months out from their original vaccine course.
California's Health and Human Services secretary said that the fact that a California patient has mild symptoms and is improving underscores the importance of vaccines.
Health officials in the U.S. and around the world are concerned that omicron may be more transmissible than currently available vaccines. More than 30 of the 50 mutations in the variant are on the spikeProtein that the virus uses to attach to human cells.
The White House's chief medical advisor said on Wednesday that the kind of mutations seen in omicron might be more transmissible. We don't know that now.
The Biden administration laid out a plan to fight the omicron and the possible winter surge of the delta variant of the virus. The White house requires all international travelers to test for Covid within 24 hours of departure. The mask requirements for domestic flights and public transit will be extended through March 18. It is giving access to free Covid tests at home.
The World Health Organization said omicron has been confirmed in at least 23 countries. The variant was brought to the attention of the WHO by public health officials in South Africa.
Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO's technical lead, said on Wednesday that more data is needed before drawing conclusions about whether omicron causes more severe disease.
The CEOs of Pfizer and Moderna say it will take about two weeks to gather enough data to determine what impact omicron's mutations have on the effectiveness of the current vaccines. They said it would take until early 2022, to develop a shot that specifically targets the variant. Stephane Bancel said that the company could roll out a higher dose booster shot much quicker.
