Shortly after Dr. Anthony Fauci announced the first case of the Omicron variant in the United States had been detected in California, local officials held a spate of news conferences to provide details on the infection.
Governor Gavin Newsom said the state’s Patient Zero is “between the age of 18 and 49.” He offered a timeline of the infection and also seemed to let slip that the patient is female.
“This individual — who is a resident of San Francisco, is fully vaccinated — had recently been in South Africa began her…rather began their travel back into the United States on the 21st, landed on the 22nd developed some symptoms a few days later — around the 25th — got tested on the 28th. The test came back positive on the 29th,” said Newsom. “As soon as that test came back positive, that test went to the testing company through UCSF, and was sequenced. And it was determined that this sequence was the variant that has obviously generated a lot of headlines — for some a sense of panic. The panic has gotten ahead of the information.”
The governor continued, “This individual is doing well. Mild symptoms. Privacy requirements dictate that we can’t release more specific information.”
He then went on to say that the patient has been “vaccinated within the last 6 months so a booster was not recommended.”
In terms of medical attention, “This individual has not been hospitalized,” announced Newsom. “The individuals that this person has come in contact with have not tested positive yet, to the best of our knowledge.”
“We are hopeful of a full recovery.”
