Officials in Texas on Monday reported what is believed to be the first death linked to the omicron variant of the coronavirus in the United States.
The newly discovered variant now accounts for 73% of U.S. COVID-19 cases and is now the dominant strain in the country, federal health officials said Monday.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo during a news conference Monday announced a man’s death has been attributed to omicron.
Hidalgo said that the man was in his 50s, had underlying health conditions and was unvaccinated.
“Please – get vaccinated and boosted,” Hidalgo urged in a Twitter post.
Harris County, the state’s most populous county, includes Houston and the surrounding area. Hidalgo raised the county’s COVID-19 threat level from yellow to orange, signaling increased community spread.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the patient’s family, and we extend our deepest sympathies,” Barbie Robinson, Harris County Public Health’s Executive Director, said in a statement. “This is a reminder of the severity of COVID-19 and its variants. We urge all residents who qualify to get vaccinated and get their booster shot if they have not already.”
Omicron has raced ahead of other variants and is now the dominant version of the coronavirus in the U.S., accounting for 73% of new infections last week, federal health officials said Monday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention numbers showed nearly a six-fold increase in omicron’s share of infections in only one week.
In much of the country, it’s even higher. Omicron is responsible for an estimated 90% or more of new infections in the New York area, the Southeast, the industrial Midwest and the Pacific Northwest. The national rate suggests that more than 650,000 omicron infections occurred in the U.S. last week.
Since the end of June, the delta variant had been the main version causing U.S. infections. As recently as the end of November, more than 99.5% of coronaviruses were delta, according to CDC data.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said the new numbers reflect the kind of growth seen in other countries.
“These numbers are stark, but they’re not surprising,” she said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
