US records first death linked to omicron variant of COVID: Report

The United States has reportedly recorded its first death linked to the omicron variant of COVID-19 on Monday, the same day the strain surpassed the dominance of delta in the country. The death was recorded in Texas’ Harris County.

Health officials from Harris County said on Monday that the individual was “a man in his 50s”, according to reports from ABC News. The person had pre-existing health conditions and had not been vaccinated against the disease.

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo wrote on Twitter, “Sad to report the first local fatality from the omicron variant of COVID-19. A man in his 50’s from the eastern portion of Harris County who was not vaccinated. Please – get vaccinated and boosted.”

While the United States has reported its first omicron-related fatality, the United Kingdom was the first country to record such a situation nearly a month after the variant was first detected in South Africa.

Dominic Raab, the Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, said in a statement on Monday that so far 14 people had died in the country in cases linked to the newest variant. 104 people, who tested positive for coronavirus’ omicron, are currently admitted in the hospital in Britain.

Public health officials from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Monday that the variant now accounts for nearly 73% of the new cases in the country, making it the dominant strain.

As of November, according to the official data, the delta variant of COVID-19 was the most common in the United States, accounting for more than 99.5% of the infections.

Omicron’s prevalence is even higher in some parts of the United States. It is responsible for an estimated 90% of new infections in the New York area, the Southeast, the industrial Midwest and the Pacific Northwest, federal officials said.

(With AP inputs)