A nurse holding the tube that incorporates the photographer’s throat and nostril swab for a COVID-19 check at a hospital on the second day of his 14-day quarantine throughout the second wave of the pandemic on October 29, 2020, in Stahnsdorf, Germany.Sean Gallup/Getty Images
The first American believed to have died of Omicron was an unvaccinated Texan in his 50s.
The man, who died on Monday, had underlying situations and had contracted COVID-19 as soon as earlier than.
The Omicron variant now accounts for 73% of sequenced circumstances in the United States, the CDC reported.
The first American believed to have died of the Omicron variant was an unvaccinated man from Texas who had already had the coronavirus as soon as earlier than, county officers mentioned.
The man, a Harris County, Texas, resident between 50 and 60 years previous, was a high-risk affected person due to underlying situations and his unvaccinated standing, a press launch from the county mentioned. He died on Monday.
“This is a reminder of the severity of COVID-19 and its variants,” Harris County Public Health Executive Director Barbie Robinson mentioned in a press release. “We urge all residents who qualify to get vaccinated and get their booster shot if they have not already.”
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the patient’s family, and we extend our deepest sympathies,” she added.
The man is the first recorded loss of life attributed to the Omicron coronavirus variant in the US.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo additionally urged individuals in the county to get vaccinated and boosted in a tweet posted Monday.
As Omicron sweeps the nation, Biden requires 500 million assessments
President Joe Biden is asserting new measures to struggle the Omicron variant, together with 500,000 free at-home coronavirus testing kits, on December 21, 2021.Mandel Ngan/Contributor/Getty Images; Tyler Murphy/Insider
The Omicron variant now accounts for 73% of all sequenced COVID-19 circumstances in the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Monday. Previously, the Delta variant was dominant nationwide. That modified final week — simply 26% of sequenced circumstances had been Delta for the week ending December 18, in accordance to CDC knowledge.
As the Omicron variant sweeps the nation, circumstances are up. In the US, the seven-day rolling common for brand spanking new COVID-19 infections was 132,659 on Sunday, in accordance to knowledge from the CDC. The nation’s seven-day common check positivity fee presently stands at 7.2%, greater than the 5% threshold the WHO recommends staying beneath.
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The Harris County man who died Monday is one of no less than 808,000 Americans who have been killed by the virus since the pandemic started, in accordance to knowledge from Johns Hopkins University.
Some elements of the nation are experiencing much more pronounced Omicron surges. The CDC estimates that in elements of the Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, and Southwest, Omicron now makes up greater than 90% of sequenced circumstances.
In response to the rising disaster, President Joe Biden is asserting new measures on Tuesday to fight Omicron, together with delivering 500,000 free at-home coronavirus testing kits to Americans subsequent month. People who want assessments shall be ready to entry them utilizing a web site arrange by well being officers. The administration may also deploy navy well being employees to strained hospitals in January and February, in accordance to the White House.
It’s clear that the whiplash arrival of Omicron has modified the sport, specialists say.
“We have to acknowledge the reality that unfortunately, with a heavy heart, the virus is in charge,” Mara Aspinall, an skilled in medical diagnostics at Arizona State University, advised the New York Times, including, “We need to take back control, and the only way to do that as a society is to test and isolate, test and isolate, repeat, repeat, repeat.”
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