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No cases of new omicron Covid variant in the U.S. have been detected, CDC says

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.

“CDC is continuously monitoring variants and the U.S. variant surveillance system has reliably detected new variants in this country. We expect Omicron to be identified quickly, if it emerges in the U.S.,” it said.

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.

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