New York announces five cases of omicron variant. Here's the latest

David Robinson Joseph Spector
New York State Team

New York has identified five cases of COVID-19 omicron variant, state and city officials said late Thursday.

Four of the cases were traced to New York City and one from Suffolk County, where the 67-year-old female patient had at least one dose of the COVID vaccine and recently returned from South Africa, Gov. Kathy Hochul said

The news comes after Hochul said earlier in the day that another case in Minnesota was linked to an event last month at the Javits Center in Manhattan.

The announcements marked the first identified links between the potentially highly contagious omicron variant and New York. It came after California on Wednesday identified the first case in the U.S.

Hochul and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said two of the cases were from Queens and one from Brooklyn, and the other's location was not yet identified, but in the city. The Long Island case appears to date back to Nov. 30, Hochul said.

The leaders said contact tracing was underway to determine whether the omicron spread was related to the anime conference at Javits between Nov. 18 and 22.

"We have to assume there is community spread," de Blasio said.

But he and Hochul urged calm, saying there is no indication yet of the severity of the cases and that the cases will be closely monitored.

Hochul said there is "no cause for alarm,” and added: "We just want to make sure the public is aware of the information as we receive it."

The Minnesota resident was vaccinated and experienced mild symptoms, Hochul said, adding the symptoms have since resolved. All of the Javits Center conference attendees also had to show proof of vaccination and no omicron cases have been identified in New York.

The COVID-19 omicron variant.

"We’re prepared. We’re not sounding the alarms. We’re not overreacting to this," Hochul said earlier in the day, adding COVID-19 vaccinations and testing in New York remain crucial public health tools for combating the variant.

Hochul urged that people shouldn't panic, saying the spread is not like in March 2020 when the virus first reached the state, saying there are plenty of vaccines and testing available in the state.

"We're not complacent," she said. "We have so much available to us that we are ready to deploy."

What we know (and don't know) about omicron case links to New York

A woman is tested for COVID-19 at the Lenasia South Hospital, near Johannesburg, South Africa, Wednesday, Dec. 1, 1021. South African doctors say the rapid increase in COVID-19 cases attributed to the new omicron variant is resulting in mostly mild symptoms.

The Minnesota Department of Health described the first omicron case as a male who lives in Hennepin County, which includes the city of Minneapolis. 

The agency said the male experienced mild COVID-19 symptoms on Nov. 22. The person was tested Nov. 24 and no longer has symptoms. The resident attended the Anime NYC 2021 convention at the Javits Center.

The convention required all attendees ages 12 and older to show proof of vaccination, meaning they received at least one dose of a federally approved COVID-19 vaccine, according to the event website. The requirement was in compliance with New York City regulations. 

All attendees of the conference between ages 5 and 12 had to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test within the prior three days, and those ages 5 and younger could attend without a test, the website added. Everyone attending was required to wear face coverings, except while eating and drinking, or speaking on a panel.

Hochul said health officials in New York began working with the Javits Center on contact tracing as soon as Minnesota reported the omicron case linked to the convention around 9:30 a.m. Thursday.

The effort to identify any potential omicron infections linked to the conference is benefiting from the fact the Javits Center has a list of all attendees, Hocul said.

Dr. Mary Bassett, who was introduced Thursday as the new state health commissioner, said a network of laboratories across New York has been working to detect the omicron variant, with the effort headed by the state-run Wadsworth Center laboratory in Albany.  

"We will find this (variant). There is no question that it will be detected in New York state and in New York City, but it has not been," she said, adding "the fact that we have not detected it may mean that it's extraordinarily rare here."

The Wadsworth Center is currently sequencing COVID-19 virus specimens with a capacity up to about 100 per day. Specimens are selected at random from throughout the state to provide surveillance across all geographic locations and data analyzed across the entire sequence of the virus, state records show

The omicron variant has been designated a "variant of concern" by federal and global health officials, meaning it has the potential to be more contagious than prior strains. It could also be more resistant to vaccines or cause more severe illness based on the designation.

But experts anticipate it will take several weeks to more clearly understand the risk of transmissibility and severity of illness associated with the variant.

The USA TODAY Network contributed to this report. 

Support local journalism

We cover the stories from the New York State Capitol and across New York that matter most to you and your family. Please consider supporting our efforts with a subscription to the New York publication nearest you.

David Robinson is the state health care reporter for the USA TODAY Network New York. He can be reached atdrobinson@gannett.com and followed on Twitter:@DrobinsonLoHud