First U.S. case of Omicron variant detected in fully vaccinated individual in California

LOS ANGELES, December 2: The United States has identified the country's first confirmed case of the Omicron COVID-19 variant in the state of California, health authorities said Wednesday.

The California and San Francisco Departments of Public Health have confirmed that a recent case of COVID-19 among an individual in California was caused by the Omicron variant. The individual was a traveler who returned from South Africa on Nov. 22, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a news release.