In The News

By GENE JOHNSON, Associated Press Troy Warren for CNT #COVID-19  Early indications suggest omicron may be less dangerous than delta U.S. health officials said Sunday that although the omicron variant of the coronavirus is rapidly spreading throughout the country, early indications suggest it might be less dangerous than delta, which continues to drive a surge of hospitalizations. President Joe Biden's chief medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, told CNN's “State of the Union” that scientists need more information before drawing conclusions about omicron's severity. Reports from South Africa, where it emerged and is becoming the dominant strain, suggest that hospitalization rates have not increased…

By Helena Oliviero, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Troy Warren for CNT #COVID-19 The first case of a highly mutated variant has been detected in a Georgia resident, health officials said Friday. The Georgia Department of Public Health said it has been notified of a Georgia resident who had recently returned from South Africa and was in Georgia for two days before traveling to New Jersey where they tested positive. The individual is fully vaccinated and is isolating in New Jersey. Contact tracing is underway there and in Georgia to identify close contacts who are at risk of infection. No more information on…

NATIONAL & WORLD NEWS Troy Warren for CNT #COVID-19   Health officials say the omicron variant of the coronavirus has been found in a Minnesota man who attended an anime convention in New York City in November NEW YORK (AP) — Just a day after the U.S. announced its first case of the omicron variant of the coronavirus had been detected in California, health officials announced Thursday it was found in a man who attended an anime convention in New York City in late November. The man tested positive after returning home to Minnesota, health officials in that state said. Officials in…