While cases have largely been mild, officials are warning against underestimating the COVID-19 variant.
Omicron, the newest COVID-19 variant of concern, has been detected in every state in the United States, including in people who were fully vaccinated with a booster shot.
South Dakota became the last state to report an Omicron infection and said it involved a male in his 20s. While just one case had been identified, health officials said it's"safe to assume" there are other cases across the state. Omicron was first detected in South Africa on November 24 and the World Health Organization classified it as a variant of concern days later. Omicron's dozens of mutations are associated with increased transmissibility and the potential to render vaccines and therapeutics less effective.
The timing of Omicron could complicate America's response to the pandemic, though. Daniel Havlichek, former chief of the College of Human Medicine's Infectious Diseases Division at Michigan State University, noted tothat even if it's one-tenth as severe as Delta, but if it's 10 times more infectious, the raw numbers of people getting seriously ill could be similar to what we've seen in the past.
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