US confirms its first Omicron death as COVID variant becomes dominant strain

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America has recorded its first death caused by the COVID Omicron variant, with the victim a Texas man in his 50s who was unvaccinated.  

The news was announced by Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo on Monday night, around the same time the Centers for Disease Control confirmed that Omicron is now the dominant COVID strain in the US, accounting for 73 per cent of all new cases.   

Hidalgo did not name the victim, who had undisclosed underlying health conditions, and who was treated with Regeneron antibody therapy in an unsuccessful attempt to save his life.  

‘My phone was ringing, and it was the public health director telling me we just had our first Omicron-related death,’ she said. 

‘A man in his 50s, resides in Harris County Precinct 2. I know for folks in Harris County this feels like whiplash… It is so frustrating. I feel it too. I understand the impulse to just tune out the latest news and be sick and tired of all of this, but as we’ve been expecting, the Omicron variant of COVID-19 has arrived in full force.’

Hidalgo said that ‘the evidence shows that for those vaccinated and with the booster, it is much, much less likely that they are going to end up in the hospital’.

She said Omicron was spreading ‘incredibly quickly’ in her county, and was doubling in two to three days – versus Delta, which doubled every 11 days.

‘Omicron is producing breakthrough infections. This does not mean the vaccine doesn’t work – on the contrary, it is keeping people out of hospitals,’ she said.

‘Every day we learn something new about this virus.

‘We do know the vaccine and booster will keep the number of hospitalizations very low.’ 

She raised the COVID-19 threat level from yellow to orange, meaning that unvaccinated people needed to avoid large gatherings.

Vaccinated people were asked to remain vigilant and wear their masks.

‘The time to get your booster shot is now,’ she said. ‘As we approach Christmas and New Year – give yourself, and give your family, the gift of health.’ 

She added: ‘Protect yourself, and let’s protect the sense of normalcy we’ve had.’ 

Hidalgo spoke as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) numbers showed nearly a six-fold increase in Omicron’s share of infections in only one week.

The Delta strain now accounts for an average of just 26 per cent of new infections, after raging across the US all summer.  As of Monday night, Johns Hopkins figures showed the US has recorded close to 51.1 million COVID infections, and nearly 808,000 deaths. 

And across much of the country, Omicron’s prevalence is even higher than the 73 per cent average, the CDC warned. 

It is responsible for an estimated 90 per cent of new infections in the New York area, the Southeast, the industrial Midwest and the Pacific Northwest.

Since the end of June, the Delta variant has been the main version causing U.S. infections. 

As recently as the end of November, more than 99.5 per cent of coronaviruses were Delta, according to CDC data.

Scientists in Africa first sounded the alarm about Omicron less than a month ago and on November 26 the World Health Organization designated it as a ‘variant of concern.’ The mutant has since shown up in about 90 countries.

CDC’s estimates are based on thousands of coronavirus specimens collected each week through university and commercial laboratories and state and local health departments. 

Scientists analyze their genetic sequences to determine which versions of the COVID-19 viruses are most abundant.

In the week that ended December 11, Omicron’s share of new infections in the U.S. increased to 2.9 per cent from 0.4 per cent the week before, the CDC previously reported.

But CDC on Tuesday said they are revising some of the earlier numbers, after analyzing more specimens. 

The new numbers indicate that about 13 per cent of the infections the week of December 11 were Omicron, and not 3 per cent, CDC officials said.

States like New York and New Jersey in particular are getting slammed by the new variant.

Hawaii is currently the U.S. leader in growth of cases, up 383 per cent over the last two weeks. 

Hospitalizations have not kept pace, though, only growing six per cent during that time span, a sign that the 63 per cent of the population that is vaccinated has some protection from the virus.

Florida, with a 226 per cent increase in cases over the past two weeks, and Connecticut, with a 137 per cent increase, have also seen cases more than double over the past two weeks, with the latter also suffering a 69 per cent increase in hospitalizations in that time – despite 74 per cent of the population being fully vaccinated.

New York and New Jersey are the states believed to have the largest prevalence of the new variant, and both are experiencing an increase in cases as well.  

The country as a whole is not suffering a COVID surge, though, with the virus even starting to recede in some areas. 

States in both the Northeast and Great Plains – both regions that experienced a sharp increase in COVID cases in early fall – are now seeing those surges decline.

In Montana, for example, cases have dropped 53 per cent over the past two weeks, with hospitalizations down 27 per cent. 

Neighboring Wyoming has experienced a 40 per cent drop in cases, with hospitalizations down 11 per cent. 

North Dakota, Utah, Colorado, Idaho, Minnesota and South Dakota also have case numbers trending in the right direction.

On the other side of the country, Vermont is starting to bounce back from a surge as well. 

Only weeks removed from setting a new record for daily hospitalizations, the state is now recording a 13 per cent decrease in hospitalizations along with a six per cent decrease in cases.

Surges in New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island are still ongoing, with cases still rising, but the rate of growth has slowed in recent days, showing the surge could be burning out.

These data match that of South Africa, the nation where the variant was first detected, COVID is beginning to recede, a promising sign that the nation’s Omicron fueled outbreak is running out of steam after a month.   

President Joe Biden will address the nation on Tuesday about the new COVID surge. 

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said his address is ‘not a speech about locking the country down,’ but will focus on a drive for vaccinations. 

‘This is not a speech about locking the country down,’ she said on Monday. 

‘This is a speech outlining and being direct and clear with the American people about the benefits of being vaccinated, the steps we’re going to take to increase access and to increase testing, and the risks posed to being unvaccinated.

‘He’ll talk about what to expect as we head into the winter months and detail additional steps that we will be taking.’ 

Previewing the speech, she continued: ‘The president will restate that while vaccinated individuals get covid due to the highly transmissible nature of Omicron, their cases will likely be mild or asymptomatic. 

‘We continue to see and our health experts assess that you are 14 times more likely to die of COVID if you have not been vaccinated.’

The press secretary said Biden will continue the tough talk for those who choose to remain unvaccinated.   

‘For those who choose to remain unvaccinated, he’ll issue a stark warning and make clear unvaccinated individuals will continue to drive hospitalizations and deaths. 

‘He’s not trying to scare people: maybe it is trying to make clear to people the risks of not being vaccinated.’  

Over the weekend, the nation eclipsed 1,000 cases of the strain, with 221 infections being recorded between Sunday and early Monday morning.

The country has now joined a dubious group of five countries with more than 1,000 cases of the new variant, reaching 1,079 as of Monday morning – a 25 percent increase from the 858 cases confirmed on Sunday morning.

It comes as experts begin to learn more about the variant, which was first discovered late last month in

Omicron is the most mutated COVID strain yet, with over 50 mutations total – including 30 on its spike protein. 

Early data shows it can evade protection provided by all three available COVID vaccines, though getting a booster shot can significantly shore up a person’s protection against infection. 

No matter the variant, COVID is spiraling out of control in the U.S., though the growth of cases has slightly slowed over the past week. 

As of Monday morning, 133,012 Americans are testing positive for Covid every day, a 21 per cent increase over the past two weeks. 

Many Americans are waiting in hours-long lines for COVID-19 tests, as shelves where at-home tests once were remain bare in pharmacies across the country. 

Still, Americans tired of two years of worry are forging ahead with travel plans, as 109 million are expected to travel between December 23 and January 2. 

Over the past three days, the Transportation Security Administration has screened more than two million passengers each day at airports nationwide, double the number of screenings carried out this time in 2020. 

Psaki said that Biden on Tuesday will ‘absolutely’ address frustrations Americans feel about a lack of testing availability across the country. 

Asked if the White House feels it is doing enough right now on testing, she said: We always feel we need to be doing more.’

Meanwhile, White House chief of staff Ron Klain doubled down on the White House’s doomsday warning for the unvaccinated on Monday. 

‘We are intent on not letting Omicron disrupt work and school for the vaccinated. You’ve done the right thing, and we will get through this,’ said White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients in a press briefing. 

‘For the unvaccinated, you’re looking at a winter of severe illness and death for yourselves, your families, and the hospitals you may soon overwhelm.’ 

‘Who is this for? Unvaccinated Americans are not going to be persuaded by messaging like this,’ New York Magazine writer Olivia Nuzzi questioned on Twitter. 

‘The truth is the truth,’ Klain wrote back. 

Republicans were quick to criticize the dire message from the White House. 

‘This is what Joe Biden has given America, a climate of fear and recrimination – all to augment his power and cover over his epic failures of leadership,’ Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., wrote on Twitter. 

‘We are all in this together unless you are in the outgroup in which case you gonna die,’ wrote Federalist publisher Ben Domenech. 

”They deserve to die.’ – President of the United States,’ Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, wrote on Twitter.   

And asked if there is an ‘outbreak’ of COVID-19 at the White House, Psaki said that breakthrough cases were to be ‘expected.’

‘Has there been an outbreak of COVID at the White House, the NSC, the State Department and the Treasury? And has [Biden] been … in close contact with a Covid positive person and thus in need of quarantine?’ New York Times reporter Mike Shear asked.

‘The President has a full schedule today and is not in need of quarantine,’ Psaki said. 

‘We will provide information to all of you as outlined with our commitment from just a few months ago about being transparent about close contacts. 

‘I don’t have any updates for you at this point in time, but again, we expect there to be breakthrough cases across the country, right? And certainly in the federal government.’

She added that the White House is ’99 per cent’ vaccinated. 

‘And the most important thing to note for you and for others is that 99 per cent or more at this point of the White House staff is vaccinated,’ she continued. 

‘Boosters are strongly recommended and distributed. We have a very thorough process here that people abide by, who are going to have close contact with the president and even beyond that, and those protocols go above and beyond CDC guidelines.’ 

The White House has attempted to shift focus away from mitigating case counts and towards staving off severe illness.

‘We’re getting to the point now where … it’s about severity,’ said Xavier Becerra, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, in a meeting with reporters this week. 

‘It’s not about cases. It’s about severity.

‘There’s a degree of difficulty that now comes in trying to decide what means it’s severe and what you have to do to stay out of that threshold of severity. 

‘But I think that’s where we’re heading, is to try to be able to tell the public that.’  

On Monday morning, Dr Ashish Jha, the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, echoed Becerra’s message.

He told ABC’s Good Morning America that America should move past trying to prevent infections, and instead work to stop hospitalizations and deaths.

‘The goal cannot be to avoid infection at all costs,’ he said. 

‘That’s an unrealistic goal. The goal should be prevent deaths and severe illness which vaccines will do.’ 

Moderna Inc. said on Monday that a booster dose of its COVID-19 vaccine appeared to be protective against the fast-spreading Omicron variant in laboratory testing – and that the current version of the vaccine would continue to be Moderna’s ‘first line of defense against Omicron.’ 

As of December 19, the daily average case count in the U.S. was up to 133,012, up 21 per cent from two weeks ago. 

The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 was up to 69,387 per day on average, a 16 per cent increase from two weeks ago. 

Deaths were up 9 per cent, to 1,296 per day. 

As cases rise across the nation, the fastest spread is currently in the Northeast. 

While the Delta variant continues to be the dominant strain, Omicron cases are rising quickly and health officials believe soon the Omicron variant will become dominant. 

About 61 per cent of Americans are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. 

On Monday, Boston became the latest city, alongside New York and Philadelphia, to ban the unvaccinated from indoor venues. 

From January, proof of vaccination will be required for indoor dining at restaurants, including bars and nightclubs; indoor fitness centers; and indoor recreational spaces, like theaters, concert venues, and sports arenas.