Omicron spreads to 3 more U.S. states, including 5 cases in New York City

Four U.S. states have found cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant -- New York, California, Colorado and Minnesota -- among patients who were fully vaccinated.

New York has found five cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant, its governor said on Thursday, becoming the fourth U.S. state to detect the variant and bringing the total number of reported infections in the country to eight.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul, speaking at a news conference, said one of the cases involved a 67-year-old Long Island woman with mild symptoms of a headache and cough who had recently returned from South Africa.

The woman tested negative upon return on Nov. 25 but tested positive for the coronavirus on Nov. 30 and her results were sent to a lab for further examination.

She had “some vaccination history” but it wasn’t yet clear if she had received one or two doses or a booster shot, Hochul said.

The other four people were New York City residents but further information was not yet available, the governor said.

“No cause for alarm,” Hochul said. “We don’t have more information at this time but we suspect there will be more cases emerging, and the best thing everyone can do is to realize we are not defenseless against this variant at all, that vaccines, we know, are going to ensure there is less severe symptoms.”

Three other U.S. states have found cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant — California, Colorado and Minnesota — among patients who were fully vaccinated and developed mild symptoms, health officials said earlier on Thursday.

The Minnesota patient is the first known U.S. case of community transmission of the Omicron variant, found in a fully vaccinated man who had recently traveled to New York City and attended a conference.