New Jersey health officials announced Friday that they had detected the first case in the state of the Omicron coronavirus variant, and that an adult patient recently traveled to South Africa, one of the first countries to detect the new strain. clarified.
In a statement, the New Jersey Department of Health said the patient, a fully vaccinated Georgia resident, tested positive on Nov. 28 and has been in isolation since. Under the Health Act, she must be quarantined for at least 10 days. She was treated at a hospital in northern New Jersey, but details of her treatment have not been released. The woman’s symptoms have been described as “moderate” by health officials.
“Omicron subspecies are among us and we must take steps to stop its spread,” Murphy said in a statement, adding that residents should continue to be vaccinated, wear masks, He urged people to remain vigilant. So far, state health departments have reported that 70% of residents are fully vaccinated and 31% have already received boosters.
read more: What New Yorkers Need to Know About Omicron’s Arrival and Delta Surge to Hit New Year’s Eve
The announcement in New Jersey of the first case of the variant, also known as B.1.1.529, came after a Minnesota man was tested by omicron after attending the Anime NYC 2021 convention at the Jacob Javits Center in Manhattan. It took place the day after New York officials were alerted that they had tested positive. The travelers attended from Nov. 19 to 21, according to people familiar with the matter. On Friday, The Washington Post reported that several of the man’s friends had also tested positive for Omicron.
Late Thursday, Mayor Bill de Blasio held a joint press conference with Gov. Kathy Hochul to announce that five more people had been found to be infected with the Omicron variant. It includes one of him from Brooklyn, two of him in Queens, another in Long Island, and an unspecified patient in New York City. They urged New Yorkers to keep calm as the health community continues to learn more about the new strain first detected by scientists in Botswana in November. A case has been detected.
South African researchers issued an omicron alert to the World Health Organization last week. On November 26, WHO classified omicron as a “subspecies of concern”. The Omicron variant is thought to be twice as contagious as the Delta strain, potentially increasing the risk of reinfection in unvaccinated people.