The first case of the COVID-19 Omicron variant has been confirmed in Connecticut — and it’s linked back to Manhattan, the Constitution State’s governor announced on Saturday.
A fully vaccinated man in his 60s from Hartford County developed “mild symptoms” on Nov. 27 after coming in contact with a family member who had been to New York City to attend the Anime NYC 2021 Convention at the Javits Center between Nov. 17 and Nov. 22, Gov. Ned Lamont said in a statement.
That family member, who was also vaccinated, had mild symptoms on Nov. 21, and received a positive result from a home COVID test on Nov. 23, the statement said. The person’s symptoms have since subsided and additional family members are being tested, according to the statement.
“As I’ve been saying for the last several days, given the speed that this new variant has been spreading around the world and its positive identification in several states, we presumed it was already in our state and the information we received from the lab today confirms that fact,” Lamont said.
Connecticut Public Health Commissioner Dr. Manisha Juthani said that the strain of the virus was isolated, sequenced and confirmed as the Omicron variant within just one day. She urged those who are not vaccinated to do so to best protect themselves against the new variant.
“Given the number of states that have identified Omicron to date, it was only a matter of time before we identified it here in Connecticut as well,” she said in a statement.
“Although Omicron appears to be more infectious than the Delta variant, both affected individuals have had mild symptoms to date. It is reassuring as their immunity seems to be helping them fight off this infection.”