The Pasadena Public Health Department on Monday, Dec. 13, reported its first laboratory-confirmed case of a resident contracting COVID-19 with mutations consistent with the new Omicron variant.
The infected person was fully vaccinated with a booster dose and had not recently traveled internationally, city officials said. The virus was likely transmitted locally in early December.
Pasadena Health Department officials said the person “has recovered from a mild illness that did not require hospitalization.” Close contacts of the individual are self-isolating.
Local cases of the omicron variant of the coronavirus officially doubled Tuesday as Los Angeles County announced eight additional infections of the virus mutation. The new cases confirmed by the county Department of Public Health brought the number of omicron cases in that agency’s jurisdiction to 15. Long Beach and Pasadena, both of which operate their own health departments separate from the county, have now each confirmed one omicron case. Of the eight new cases confirmed by the county, seven developed symptoms but did not require hospitalization. Five of the eight were fully vaccinated, one traveled internationally and two recently traveled within the United States. Two of the eight live in the same household, according to the county Department of Public Health.
Omicron: From the New York Times: The news over the past few days — both scientific studies and real-world data — has added to the evidence that Omicron is more contagious than any previous version of the Covid-19 virus.
In South Africa, where Omicron was first identified, the recent rise has been steeper than during any previous surge. “When Omicron enters a community, the increase in case numbers looks like a vertical line,” Dr. Paul Sax of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston said.
In Britain, new cases also hit a record yesterday. In the U.S., Omicron has not yet spread as widely, but scientists believe it’s only a matter of time.
One reason that Omicron seems to spread so quickly is that it causes more cases among the vaccinated than earlier variants, although they are likely to be mild. “There will be a lot of breakthrough cases,” Dr. Jennifer Lighter, an epidemiologist at N.Y.U. Langone Health, told me.
Dr. Muge Cevik, an infectious-disease expert at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, noted on Twitter that much about Omicron remains uncertain, but its infectiousness seems clear:
Omicron will spread so quickly through the population, making it likely impossible to contain even with the most stringent measures and giving us very little time over the next few weeks. So get your vaccines and boosters! Unvaccinated adults are at even greater risk than they were a few weeks ago, and about 15 percent of American adults remain unvaccinated. (The global share of unvaccinated adults is probably not much higher; many of the world’s unvaccinated people are children, and serious Covid illness remains extremely rare in children.)
The large number of unvaccinated adults means that Omicron may lead to spikes in Covid hospitalizations and deaths, which in turn could overwhelm some hospitals. This prospect is why Cevik emphasized the importance of the next few weeks. Persuading more vaccine skeptics in both the U.S. and other countries to get shots — before the Omicron surge has fully arrived — can save a lot of lives.
“I have been telling my unvaccinated patients that it is extremely urgent for them to start a vaccine series as soon as possible,” Dr. Aaron Richterman of the University of Pennsylvania said.
The power of vaccines: The most encouraging news about Omicron is that it does not appear to cause more severe illness than earlier versions of the virus.
Some evidence even suggests Omicron is less severe. A new study from Hong Kong, for example, found that Omicron replicated itself less efficiently than Delta inside the lungs, which could make it less likely to cause acute symptoms. But many scientists say it is too soon to be confident.
Either way, the crucial question for most people is not whether Omicron is less severe than earlier versions of the virus; the question is whether Omicron is more severe. So far, the answer is no.
If that continues to be true, it will mean that Omicron — like earlier variants — presents only a very small risk of serious illness to most vaccinated people. It is the kind of risk that people accept every day without reordering their lives, not so different from the chances of hospitalization or death from the flu or a car crash.
Unfortunately, there are some vaccinated people for whom any Covid case remains a threat. Those whose health is already vulnerable — like the elderly, people undergoing cancer treatments, people who have received organ transplants and some other groups — can become extremely ill from a Covid case that is mild in a technical sense. Their bodies are weak enough that any infection can cause major problems. It’s the same reason that the seasonal flu kills tens of thousands of Americans annually.
These are the people, in addition to the unvaccinated, who need the most attention now that Omicron has arrived.
Next steps: What can be done? A few things, experts say:
Anybody eligible for booster shots — Americans 16 and older who received their second vaccine dose at least six months ago — should get one. Boosters appear to make a major difference against Omicron, as Dr. Anthony Fauci and experts at the World Health Organization emphasized yesterday.
Even if your health is not vulnerable, a booster can reduce the chances you contract Covid and pass it on to somebody who is vulnerable. Likewise, vaccinating children can protect their grandparents.
Rapid tests — more widely available than a few months ago — can help, too. If you’re socializing with somebody who is medically vulnerable, try to take a test beforehand. And the Biden administration can do more to cut the tests’ costs, many experts say.
We will learn more about Omicron in coming weeks, and the facts could still become either more worrisome or less so. For now, the variant seems to represent a step toward the future of Covid. It will not disappear, but there are many ways to lessen its toll — and live as normal a life as possible.
As Dr. Monica Gandhi and Dr. Leslie Bienen, two public health experts, wrote in a recent Times Opinion article, “America is in the slow process of accepting that Covid-19 will become endemic — meaning it will always be present in the population at varying levels.”
The economy: U.S. jobless claims rise, but still historically low
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose last week despite signs that the U.S. labor market is rebounding from last year’s coronavirus recession. Jobless claims rose by 18,000 to a 206,000, still low by historical standards. The four-week average, which smooths out week-to-week volatility, fell by 16,000 to less than 204,000, the lowest level since mid-November 1969 when the American job market was less than half the size it is now, according Department of Labor figures released Thursday.
Altogether, 1.8 million Americans were receiving traditional jobless benefits the week that ended Dec. 4, down by 154,000 from the previous week.
Weekly claims, which are a proxy for layoffs, have fallen steadily most of the year since topping 900,000 one week in early January. They are now below to the 220,000-a-week level typical before the coronavirus pandemic slammed the U.S. economy in March 2020; COVID-19 forced consumers to stay home as health precaution and businesses to close or reduce hours and to lay off staff. In March and April last year, employers shed a staggering 22.4 million jobs.
Businesses and other employers posted a near-record 11 million job openings in October. And 4.2 million people quit their jobs — just off the September record of 4.4 million — a sign that they are confident enough in their prospects to look for something better.
What looks to be a strong holiday shopping season has pushed Southern California retailers’ payrolls back above pre-pandemic employment levels. In November, merchants in the four-county region added 23,400 workers compared with jobs growing 7,600 monthly in the recovery. The holiday shopping month is traditionally a big hiring period for retailers, with an average 28,000 workers added since 2000 to meet the shopping rush.
November’s hiring spree put retailers’ staff at 740,600 workers, up 2,200 from February 2020, before the economy was shackled by the coronavirus. At its worst in April 2020, the retail industry was at 80% of pre-pandemic employment.
All industries in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties added 68,000 jobs in November. SoCal’s 7.57 million employees for November was up 0.9% in a month and 5.7% in a year. The regionwide hiring pace was down from 97,900 jobs added in October but above the 47,200 monthly average since the jobs recovery from shutdowns began in spring 2020. Pandemiclinked economic challenges leave the region 318,400 workers short of pre-virus employment — or 96% of February 2020 levels.
Southern California’s combined jobless rate for November was 6.16% — a pandemic-era low — versus a revised 6.91% the previous month, the spreadsheet says. The rate was 4.17% in February 2020, and peaked at 17.14% in May 2020.
Still, this is a split recovery. Employment in eateries, tourism and entertainment is at 822,200 — 86% of pre-pandemic staffing versus 97% for the rest of the economy.They added just 200 workers last month as an expected seasonal was amplified by renewed coronavirus fears and continuing business limitations.