Is New York City Ready for the Omicron Variant?
The New York Times
New York has already weathered three variants this year — Iota, Alpha and Delta. Will Omicron be different?
As reports of the new Omicron variant began to circulate the world late last week, scientists in Queens who search for mutations in coronavirus samples drawn from infected New York City residents double-checked their work to see if they had missed any cases. They hadn’t.
But even if the new variant, which has been detected in California, has not reached the city yet, health officials say it remains just a matter of time before it does. “We do anticipate detecting Omicron in New York in the coming days,” the city’s health commissioner, Dr. Dave Chokshi, said on Monday.
The question now is whether Omicron could plunge the city back into a period of spiking case counts and hospitalizations, lockdowns and isolation. Or will it be much like the Delta variant, which provoked anxiety when it arrived six months ago, but did not significantly change daily life in the city?
