Free Republic

Colorado health officials on Thursday reported that the third confirmed U.S. case of the COVID-19 omicron variant has been detected in their state. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) said in a statement that it has confirmed the first omicron case in Colorado. "The case was identified in an adult female resident of Arapahoe County who had recently traveled to Southern Africa for tourism," the CDPHE said. "She is experiencing minor symptoms and is isolated and recuperating at home. She had been fully vaccinated and was eligible for the booster vaccine but had not received it yet."

Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York said on Thursday that everyone who attended a recent anime convention in Manhattan should get tested for the coronavirus, after an individual who tested positive for the Omicron variant in Minnesota recently traveled to the conference. Ms. Hochul said the individual, a Minnesota resident who was vaccinated and suffered mild symptoms, had attended the Anime NYC 2021 convention at the Javits Center in Midtown Manhattan. She urged people who attended the event, which was held from Nov. 19 to Nov. 21, to get tested and said that health officials would be in contact with...

President Joe Biden on Monday urged Americans to get vaccinated or get their booster shots amid warnings about the spread of the Omicron variant – but insisted that the infectious new variant was not a cause for 'panic' and said no new restrictions were needed. 'We'll fight this variant with scientific and knowledgeable actions and speed, not chaos and confusion,' Biden said at the White House. But even amid the pressing nature of the new variant, Biden misstated the name of the variant. 'It's called the Omnicron,' he said, inserting an extra 'n' – an error his coronavirus advisor, Dr....

Later today Fauci and the #COVID19 response team will brief Biden on the "#Omicron variant" and discuss the "administration’s response."

The new COVID-19 omicron variant is posing new risks for the American people as President Biden and his administration attempt to control the spread of a virus he vowed to "shut down" during the 2020 campaign. The omicron variant, according to World Health Organization (WHO) officials, has a large number of mutations, "some of which are concerning."

Alarms were today raised after one in ten passengers coming into the Netherlands from South Africa this morning tested positive for Covid and a wave of suspected cases of the new super-mutant variant were spotted in Europe. Around 600 passengers arrived on two planes in Schipol Airport, near Amsterdam, from Johannesburg — the epicentre for the new strain that experts fear is 40 per cent more vaccine evasive than Delta — hours after travel bans were put in place. Some 61 of those on the planes tested positive for the virus on PCR tests after they were stopped at the...

Joe Biden is being accused of being a hypocrite after he announced a ban on travel from eight southern African countries in response to the new Omicron COVID variant despite labeling Donald Trump as 'xenophobic' when the Republican imposed a ban on travelers last year. On Friday, Biden, who is vacationing in Nantucket for a Thanksgiving break with his family, said travel will be banned from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi.

President Joe Biden is being slammed for still allowing flights from South Africa to land in the US as his top health expert said he 'wouldn't be surprised' if the new super mutant variant Omicron was already in US following a flight from Johannesburg landing at Newark airport Saturday morning. -snip- 'It has a large number of mutations, particularly in that area of the virus that relates to its ability to bind to the cells in your nasal pharynx and in your lung,' Fauci told the Today Show Saturday morning. 'You have to be careful and assume that that's the...

Delta Air Lines and United Airlines said on Friday they do not plan any changes to their South Africa-US routes after the White House said it plans to impose new travel curbs on southern Africa starting Monday amid concerns about a new COVID-19 variant. Delta and United are the only US passenger carriers that have direct flights to southern Africa. Delta currently operates service between Johannesburg and Atlanta three times weekly and the US airline said “there are no planned adjustments to service at this time.”

The governor of New York on Friday declared a state of emergency as COVID transmission reached rates not seen since April 2020, and warned that the troubling new variant of COVID which first emerged in Botswana is 'coming'. Earlier on Friday, the US banned flights from eight Southern African countries to try and prevent the mutant strain, Omicron, from arriving. Kathy Hochul, the governor, said that all non-urgent procedures could be postponed, beginning December 3, if the hospital's capacity falls dangerously low. -snip- She also issued a 'declaration of disaster emergency', noting that COVID transmission is at a level not...

Here we go again. Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an executive order Friday to postpone elective hospital surgeries — something that hasn’t been done since the worst of the initial coronavirus outbreak last year. Hochul said she made the move to deal with staffing shortages and boost bed capacity amid an anticipated “spike” in new cases and the emergence of the new Omicron variant in South Africa. The strain is named after a letter of the Greek alphabet. “We’ve taken extraordinary action to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and combat this pandemic. However, we continue to see warning signs of spikes...

No cases of the newly identified variant have been detected in New York or the rest of the United States, for that matter. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has declared a state of emergency ahead of potential COVID-19 spikes this winter due to the already-circulating Delta and newly-identified Omicron variants of coronavirus. The declaration, which goes into effect on Dec. 3, will allow the state to acquire pandemic-fighting supplies, increase hospital capacity and fight potential staffing shortages. It would also allow the state Health Department to limit non-essential and non-urgent procedures at hospitals. "We continue to see warning signs of...