New York governor says not to panic as 5 Omicron cases are reported in state
Five cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant have been reported in the New York City metropolitan area — two in Queens, one in Manhattan, one in Brooklyn, and one in Suffolk County on Long Island — officials announced Thursday.
New York is sequencing about 15 percent of all COVID-19 tests, New York City Health Commissioner David Chokshi said, and these Omicron cases indicate community spread. "This is not just people who are traveling to southern Africa or to other parts of the world where Omicron has already been identified," Chokshi said.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) tried to reassure residents, saying she had no intention of ordering lockdowns because of the Omicron variant. Compared to the beginning of the pandemic, "we are in a far better place, that people are informed," she said. "There's not a panic. It is still a public health crisis, but does not have to be a crisis that leads to shutdown." According to Hochul, the patient in Suffolk County received at least one vaccine dose, and recently traveled to South Africa.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Earlier Thursday, Minnesota health officials reported the state's first case of the Omicron variant, detected in a person who recently traveled to New York City to attend an anime convention. The first confirmed Omicron case in the United States was in San Francisco, detected in a resident who traveled to South Africa.
Researchers are now working to determine whether Omicron is more transmissible, causes severe illness, and/or is able to get through the protections offered by current COVID-19 vaccines and previous infections.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
ACA opens 2025 enrollment, enters 2024 race
Speed Read Mike Johnson promises big changes to the Affordable Care Act if Trump wins the election
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
McDonald's sued over E. coli linked to burger
Speed Read The outbreak has sickened at least 49 people in 10 states and left one dead
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Long Covid: study shows damage to brain's 'control centre'
The Explainer Research could help scientists understand long-term effects of Covid-19 as well as conditions such as MS and dementia
By The Week UK Published
-
Israel, UN agree to Gaza pauses for polio vaccinations
Speed Read Gaza's first case of polio in 25 years was confirmed last week in a 10-month-old boy who is now partially paralyzed
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
FDA OKs new Covid vaccine, available soon
Speed read The CDC recommends the new booster to combat the widely-circulating KP.2 strain
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Mpox: how dangerous is new health emergency?
Today's Big Question Spread of potentially deadly sub-variant more like early days of HIV than Covid, say scientists
By The Week UK Published
-
WHO declares mpox a global health emergency
Speed Read An outbreak of the viral disease formerly known as monkeypox continues to spread in Africa
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
What is POTS and why is it more common now?
The explainer The condition affecting young women
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published