Omicron variant has spread to nearly a third of US states: officials

The Omicron variant of the coronavirus has spread to about a third of the states of USA, but the Delta version still represents most of the Covid-19 cases across the country, health officials said Sunday.

Although the appearance of the new variant has caused alarm throughout the world, the Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top infectious diseases official in the United States, told CNN that “so far it does not appear that there is a great degree of severity”, but added that it was too early to draw definitive conclusions and more studies are needed.

Fauci also hoped that the United States would lift its ban on travelers from southern countries. Africa in a “reasonable period of time”.

The South African government has complained that it is being punished, rather than applauded, for discovering the new variant and swiftly reporting it to international health officials.

Fauci praised South Africa for its transparency, saying the US travel ban was imposed at a time “when we were really in the dark” and time was needed to study the variant.

At least 15 states have reported Omicron cases: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin, according to a Reuters tally.

Many of the cases occurred in fully vaccinated people with mild symptoms, although the booster vaccine status of some patients is unknown.

Despite several dozen cases of Omicron, the Delta variant still accounts for 99.9% of the 90,000 to 100,000 new daily Covid cases in the United States, said the CDC director, the Dra. Rochelle Walensky, on ABC News in an interview.

“Every day we hear about more and more probable cases, so that number is likely to increase,” he said.

Manufacturers of the Covid-19 vaccine They are looking to quickly adjust their injections to target Omicron and US regulators have promised quick reviews, although that could still take months.