Gottlieb says Omicron variant of COVID-19 "almost definitely" already in U.S.
CBSN
Washington — Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former head of the Food and Drug Administration, said Sunday that the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus reported last week is likely already in the United States, but said the federal government is better positioned to detect cases of the new strain than it was a year ago.
"It's almost definitely here already, just looking at the number of cases coming off planes this weekend. It's almost a certainty that there have been cases that have gotten into the United States," Gottlieb said in an interview with "Face the Nation." "We're in a much better place now than we were a year ago when B.1.1.7 first arrived, or even when Delta first arrived. We are sequencing about a hundred thousand cases a week, which is very good. It's about 20% of all the diagnosed cases. CDC is also going to set up this week a new surveillance system specifically for this variant."
Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.