The U.S. has not found any cases of the new omicron Covid variant so far, the CDC said late Friday, referring to a heavily mutated strain of the virus that has been classified as a “variant of concern” by the World Health Organization.
“No cases of this variant have been identified in the U.S. to date,” according to the statement by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
However, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told NBC’s Weekend TODAY show on Saturday that he “would not be surprised” if the omicron variant is already in the U.S.
“We have not detected it yet, but when you have a virus that is showing this degree of transmissibility and you’re already having travel-related cases that they’ve noted in Israel and Belgium and other places, when you have a virus like this, it almost invariably is ultimately going to go essentially all over,” Fauci said.
The newly identified strain — referred to as lineage B.1.1.529 — was first detected in South Africa and raised concerns due to the rapid rise in the number of coronavirus cases in the country’s Gauteng province.
The UN health agency only designates Covid strains as variants of concern when they’re more transmissible, more virulent or more adept at evading vaccines and therapeutics.
“This variant has a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning,” the World Health Organization said. “Preliminary evidence suggests an increased risk of reinfection with this variant, as compared to other [variants of concern]. The number of cases of this variant appears to be increasing in almost all provinces in South Africa.”
The U.S. on Friday imposed travel restrictions for non-U.S. citizens from South Africa and seven other countries in the region. The restrictions will begin on Monday, and are part of global efforts to blunt the spread of omicron, according to senior Biden administration officials.
The other countries included in the ban were Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe.
There was no indication of how long the restrictions will be in place.
On Saturday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and State Department advised against travel to eight southern African countries.
The CDC raised its travel recommendation to “Level Four: Very High” for South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique, Malawi, Lesotho, Eswatini and Botswana, while the State Department issued parallel “Do Not Travel” advisories Saturday. On Monday, the CDC had lowered its COVID-19 travel advisory for South Africa to “Level 1: Low.”
No cases of new COVID-19 variant detected in South Africa have been identified in the United States to date, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday.
The United States will bar entry to most travelers from eight southern African countries starting on Monday, after a potentially more-contagious new coronavirus variant was identified in South Africa, President Joe Biden said on Friday.
The new variant, dubbed Omicron, poses a new challenge for Biden, who has had a mixed success getting Americans vaccinated after a politically motivated pushback by 10 states. Biden also faces criticism from international health experts and foreign leaders for failing to send vaccines to poorer countries.
The travel restrictions do not ban flights or apply to U.S. citizens and lawful U.S. permanent residents.
No cases of Omicron were identified in the United States to date, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday. The agency expects that it would identify the B.1.1.529 variant quickly, if it emerges in the country.
Countries around the world rushed to suspend travel from southern Africa after the World Health Organization said Omicron was “of concern.” Many of those bans kick in immediately, unlike those issued by Biden.