U.S. health officials said Sunday that while the omicron variant of the coronavirus is rapidly spreading throughout the country, early indications suggest it may be less dangerous than delta, which continues to drive a surge of hospitalizations.
Omicron had been detected in about a third of U.S. states by Sunday, including in the Northeast, South, Great Plains and West Coast.
Authorities in Louisiana, Missouri and Georgia on Sunday confirmed their first cases of omicron. But delta remains the dominant variant, making up more than 99% of cases and driving a surge of hospitalizations in the north.
President Joe Biden's chief medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said on 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 alarmingly.
"Thus far, it does not look like there's a great degree of severity to it," Fauci said. "But we have really got to be careful before we make any determinations that it is less severe or it really doesn't cause any severe illness, comparable to delta."
Fauci said the Biden administration is considering lifting travel restrictions against noncitizens entering the United States from several African countries. They were imposed as the omicron variant exploded in the region, but U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has blasted such measures as "travel apartheid."
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"Hopefully we'll be able to lift that ban in a quite reasonable period of time," Fauci said. "We all feel very badly about the hardship that has been put on not only on South Africa but the other African countries."
National Guard teams have been sent to help overwhelmed hospitals in western New York, and Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker issued an emergency order requiring any hospitals facing limited patient capacity to reduce scheduled procedures that are not urgent.
U.S. officials continued urging people to get vaccinated and to receive booster shots, as well as take precautions such as wearing masks when among strangers indoors, saying anything that helps protect against delta will also help protect against other variants.
Even if omicron proves less dangerous than delta, it remains problematic, World Health Organization epidemiologist Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove told CBS' "Face the Nation."
"Even if we have a large number of cases that are mild, some of those individuals will need hospitalizations," she said. "They will need to go into ICU and some people will die. ... We don't want to see that happen on top of an already difficult situation with delta circulating globally."
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LOUISIANA ALERT
Testing of a probable case of the new variant in Louisiana determined omicron caused the covid-19 infection in a person who lives in the New Orleans area and recently traveled within the United States, according to the agency.
"We now know omicron is here in Louisiana. This is cause for concern, but not panic," State Health Officer Joe Kanter said in a statement. "We have been expecting and preparing for this moment. To all Louisianans, the single best action you can take to protect yourselves and your families is to get yourself and loved ones vaccinated and boosted if eligible."
Louisiana has one of the nation's lowest immunization rates against the coronavirus. Nearly 2.3 million people in the state are fully vaccinated, according to the health department, about 49% of the total population.
More than a dozen states have identified the omicron variant of the coronavirus, and the list is growing near daily. Much remains unknown about omicron, including whether it is more contagious, as some health authorities suspect, whether it can thwart vaccines and whether it makes people as sick as the original strain.
The St. Louis Health Department said Saturday that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had confirmed the virus case in a resident of St. Louis that was first reported Friday as a presumed case of the omicron variant.
Health officials did not identify the patient, but they have said that the person had recently traveled in the United States. Officials have also said there are no concerns about that person's health at this point.
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Dr. Mati Hlatshwayo Davis, director of the St. Louis health department, said the omicron case is a reminder that everyone should get vaccinated and take other measures proven to limit the spread of the coronavirus such as wearing masks.
In the Georgia case, the state Department of Public Health said Sunday that the person had recently traveled from South Africa, where the variant was first detected, and developed mild symptoms of covid-19. Genomic testing confirmed the person -- who is isolating at home -- was infected by the omicron variant, the agency said.
Public health officials are working to determine people who came in close contact and are at risk of infection, the department said.
More than a dozen states have identified the omicron variant of the coronavirus, and the list is growing near daily. Much remains unknown about omicron, including whether it is more contagious, as some health authorities suspect, whether it can thwart vaccines and whether it makes people as sick as the original strain.
While this is the first in-state Georgia case tracked to the variant, the Department of Public Health announced it was notified Friday of a Georgia resident who was in New Jersey and tested positive for the omicron variant there.
Health officials urged Georgia residents to get vaccinated against the coronavirus if they haven't already and adults to get a booster dose if they were immunized at least six months ago.
Cruise ships were an early source of outbreaks last year at the start of the coronavirus pandemic as some ships were rejected at ports and passengers were forced into quarantine. The CDC issued a no-sail order in March 2020, prompting a standstill that ended in June as cruise ships began to leave U.S. ports with new health and safety requirements.
INFECTIONS ON SHIP
A Norwegian Cruise Line ship with at least 10 passengers and crew members infected with covid-19 docked Sunday in New Orleans, where health officials said they were trying to disembark people without worsening the spread of the coronavirus illness.
Local news outlets in New Orleans confirmed the Norwegian Breakaway had arrived in the city. The ship departed New Orleans on Nov. 28. The Louisiana Department of Health said in a late Saturday news release that over the past week, the ship made stops in Belize, Honduras and Mexico.
Norwegian Cruise Line issued a statement that confirmed a "handful of covid-19 cases among guests and crew." The company said all of the identified cases involved people without symptoms of the illness.
Norwegian said it requires all passengers and crew members to have been vaccinated against the coronavirus before departure.
"We are testing all individuals on Norwegian Breakaway prior to disembarkation, as well as providing post-exposure and quarantine public health guidance by the [CDC]," the company's statement said. "Any guests who have tested positive for covid-19 will travel by personal vehicle to their personal residence or self-isolate in accommodations provided by the company."
The state health department -- which is working with the cruise line and state and local officials to contain the outbreak -- said at least 10 people on the ship tested positive for covid-19. More than 3,200 people were on board the ship, officials said.
Some disembarking passengers told WVUE-TV in New Orleans that they were notified about the positive cases on the ship, while others said they had no idea about the outbreak until being asked about it by a reporter.
"We didn't hear of this until we kind of heard you talking a second ago," said Don Canole, a passenger from North Carolina. "It would have been nice to have known. We would have taken maybe a few more precautions."
Passengers said they were tested for covid-19 exposure on Saturday before disembarking Sunday. The cruise line also gave passengers take-home rapid tests as they left the ship, according to WVUE.
The company said no changes to scheduled future sailings on the Norwegian Breakaway are currently planned, and the ship was scheduled to depart again Sunday evening.
Information for this article was contributed by Gene Johnson and staff members of The Associated Press.