–Officials announced Thursday that the first two cases of the COVID-19 variant of omicron had been detected in Allegheny County residents. District officials said the first case from a sample taken by a man on December 7th was confirmed as an omicron on December 22nd. The second case, also found in a man, came from a sample collected and available on December 13th. It was confirmed as a variant of omicron on December 23rd. During a COVID-19 report in the county on Wednesday, officials said evidence of a variant of Omicron was found in wastewater samples. “Omicron is highly contagious and causes the number of daily cases to increase rapidly in other parts of the country and the world,” said Health Department Director Dr. Debra Bogen, on Wednesday during the county’s regular coronavirus briefing. “I assume that we will see a rapid increase in the Omicron variant in our district in the coming days to weeks.” Bogen continues to urge people to protect themselves and others by vaccinating, wearing masks, and social distancing keep up and get tested if symptoms occur. Officials said the Allegheny County Health Department is using sewage monitoring to help determine the spread of COVID-19 and variants like Omikron. The SARS-CoV2 virus in wastewater can be an early indicator of elevated status and can be used to track novel variants.
Allegheny County, Pennsylvania –
Officials announced Thursday that the first two cases of the COVID-19 variant of omicron had been detected in Allegheny County residents.
District officials said the first of a sample taken by a man on December 7th was confirmed to be the omicron variant on December 22nd.
The second case, also found in a man, came from a sample taken on December 13th and confirmed as an omicron variant on December 23rd.
During a press conference on COVID-19 in the county on Wednesday, officials said evidence of a variant of omicron was found in wastewater samples.
“Omicron is highly contagious and causes the number of daily cases to increase rapidly in other parts of the country and the world,” said Health Department Director Dr. Debra Bogen, on Wednesday during the county’s regular coronavirus briefing. “I assume that we will see a rapid increase in the Omicron variant in our district in the coming days or weeks.”
Bogen continues to urge people to protect themselves and others by getting vaccinated, wearing masks, keeping social distance, and getting tested if symptoms occur.
Officials said the Allegheny County Health Department is using sewage monitoring to track the spread of COVID-19 and variants like Omicron. The SARS-CoV2 virus in wastewater can be an early indicator of elevated status and can be used to track novel variants.
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