PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — The omicron variant has now been identified in Allegheny County.
As of Thursday, there are two known cases in the county. Both cases were detected in adult men, with one sample collected on Dec. 7 and the other sample collected on Dec. 13.
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Those samples were confirmed to be from the variant on Dec. 22 and Dec. 23.
Local doctors expect cases to rise significantly in the area.
“Knowing that it was already in the community in the middle of December and how fast it spreads and how contagious it is, we can pretty much assure that, knowing that it’s dominant already in the rest of America, it’s probably the dominant case that we’re seeing here,” said Brian Lamb, an internal medicine doctor at Allegheny Health Network.
On Wednesday, Allegheny County Health Director Dr. Debra Bogen said it was “only a matter of days” before the variant would be detected, especially since the health department found evidence of the variant in the county’s wastewater.
The confirmed cases come as the omicron variant has become the most dominant in the US, and cases from the variant have overtaken the Delta variant.
Source: Allegheny County Reports First Omicron Variant Cases
