A healthcare worker administers a Covid-19 test at a testing site at Tropical Park in Miami, Florida, U.S.
The omicron Covid-19 variant has been confirmed in several southern U.S. states, as the strain takes root in half of the U.S.
Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a White House Covid briefing Friday that 25 US states have detected cases of the new strain. The nation is grappling with a wave of infections that has pushed Covid cases over 100,000 per day, a 16% increase over the last week and up 23% since before Thanksgiving, according to John Hopkins University data.
Scientists are still trying to answer questions about omicron. More cases of the variant are being detected by state, commercial and academic labs.
Three cases of the variant have been reported by Georgia public health officials.
The first two cases were announced on Sunday. A patient tested positive for Covid after traveling from South Africa. The second patient who tested positive in New Jersey was notified by the state health department on December 3.
The symptoms and severity of their infections were not described by the department.
The third case was an unvaccinated individual with no travel history. The patient is isolated at home.
The Georgia Department of Public Health is conducting contact tracing to identify people who are close to the patients.
According to the press release, the State Health Commissioner said that vaccination was key to preventing the spread of Covid and the emergence of variant like omicron.
Even as Omicron is emerging, we are still in the midst of a pandemic fueled by the Delta variant.
Delta still accounts for more than 99% of all cases in the US, according to the CDC director.
Georgia recorded a seven-day moving average of 1,334 positive tests for the virus on Thursday, after the number had bottomed out below 1,000 for most of November. The positive tests have been rising since Thanksgiving but are still below the seven-day averages seen in August.
There were 37 cases of the omicron variant reported by Louisiana public health officials. The state health department said in a press release that only three cases are confirmed and 34 are still probable.
The first probable case was reported by the Greater New Orleans area resident who recently traveled to the U.S.
There were more probable cases reported on Wednesday and Thursday.
There are at least 28 probable cases and 2 confirmed cases in the Greater New Orleans area. There are three probable cases in the Baton Rouge area. There are two probable cases in Northwest Louisiana.
There is a confirmed case in Northshore, a neighborhood in Louisiana.
The severity of the infections was not given by the state health department. A patient from the area recently traveled internationally and did not need to be hospitalized after testing positive.
As we get ready to gather for the holidays, the new cases of Omicron should serve as a reminder of the ongoing threat of COVID, said State Health Officer Dr. Joseph Kanter in the press release.
The CDC data shows that Louisiana recorded
The Texas state public health department confirmed its first case of omicron on Monday in a resident of Harris County. The patient was an adult female and the department did not provide more information about her symptoms or when she tested positive.
The Harris County Public Health and the Texas Department of State Health Services are looking into the case.
The state health department commissioner said that they were not surprised that Omicron showed up here.
Texas recorded a seven-day moving average of 2,554 cases. The seven-day moving average was up to 9,000 in October and 19,000 in September, but this number is far below what it was in the previous months.
Two cases of the omicron variant have been reported in Florida, a spokesman for the state's department of public health told CNBC.
The first patient was notified to the department by the hospital, but they are unable to provide details on the case.
The patient is experiencing mild symptoms after recently traveling internationally, according to the hospital.
The hospital said in a statement that they were able to quickly detect, test, confirm and add this data to their understanding of the strain.
The state health department reported the second case to the CDC. They didn't give any more details on the case.
At a Tuesday news briefing, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was asked if he would impose a state of emergency.
In Florida, we will not allow them to restrict you, we will not allow them to close the schools, and we will protect your freedom to make your decisions.
If someone is scared of omicron and they want to lock down or they want to be isolated, that is their decision in a free society, but you don't impose Fauci-ism on the whole country.
According to data from the CDC, Florida had a seven-day moving average of 1,873 positive tests for the virus. Over the past few weeks, this number has been increasing, last reaching 1,800 new cases a day on Oct. 28.
