Sacramento County confirms first two cases of ‘very contagious’ omicron COVID variant
Sacramento County has detected its first two cases of the “very contagious” omicron variant of COVID-19, health officials announced Tuesday.
The two cases are still being investigated by the local health office, but do not appear to be linked to each other and neither reported a history of recent travel, county spokeswoman Samantha Mott said in an emailed statement.
One of the cases experienced mild symptoms, and the other is asymptomatic with their case identified through weekly testing, according to Mott.
“One case is in a vaccinated individual, the other is unvaccinated,” Mott wrote.
The omicron variant had previously been identified in the region in Yolo County earlier this month, first detected in a West Sacramento adult.
Yolo health officials last week announced an outbreak at River City High School in West Sacramento, with four students in one classroom testing positive, plus one student family member and one non-student family member for a total of at least six cases.
“The Omicron variant can be very contagious,” Sacramento County health officer Dr. Olivia Kasirye said in a prepared statement Tuesday. “Our best protection against COVID-19 continues to be the vaccine. We urge all eligible residents to get vaccinated in order to protect themselves, and their family and friends.”
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday said omicron now makes up an estimated 73% of new coronavirus cases nationwide, overtaking delta as the dominant variant.
Researchers are still determining whether the variant is more or less severe than delta.
This story was originally published December 21, 2021 at 1:48 PM.
