Fast-spreading variant prompts caution over travel, events
First American News LLC, Raleigh: New travel restrictions and other steps to curb the spread of the Omicron variant were put in place worldwide as further evidence emerged of just how rapidly the new strain spreads.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Omicron had overtaken the Delta variant of the coronavirus in the U.S., accounting for an estimated 73% of infections for the week ending Dec. 18. Updated CDC data for a week earlier showed Omicron had caused about 13% of infections.
Harris County Public Health in Texas on Tuesday reported the first Covid-19 death in the county caused by the Omicron variant. The patient was an unvaccinated man between the age of 50 and 60 who had been infected with Covid-19 in the past, the agency said. The person was also at higher risk of severe complications due to underlying health conditions, which the agency didn’t specify. The CDC declined to comment on the Harris County death and said it doesn’t have a comprehensive death or hospitalization count for Omicron because sequencing isn’t done for every Covid-19 case. Read more on Omicron as it takes over the U.S. and its current developments worldwide.
