(WFXR) — The Virginia Section of Health (VDH) is reporting its 1st confirmed circumstance of the Omicron COVID-19 variant in the Commonwealth.

Wellness officers say an grownup in the Northwest Location of Virginia has tested optimistic for the variant. They condition that this individual has a history of touring through the publicity period of time.

“We realized it was only a make a difference of time in advance of we would document our initially Omicron infection in the Commonwealth,” mentioned Point out Health Commissioner M. Norman Oliver. “This drives dwelling the obstacle the COVID-19 virus presents to the earth as the virus changes and mutates over time. Researchers are hard at function researching the recently determined variant to fully grasp how effortlessly it spreads and how unwell it tends to make folks. Right now, the extremely transmissible Delta variant is causing virtually all scenarios of COVID-19 in the U.S. We have very productive vaccines that can interrupt the chain of transmission and reduce the odds that unpredictable mutations like the Delta and Omicron variants will arise. Do your section. Get vaccinated if you are suitable. Get your booster shot if you are qualified. Vaccination is how Virginia, the U.S., and the earth will place this pandemic behind us.”

Officials say that a lab recognized the variant in a sample from a Virginia resident and notified VDH. They think much more cases of the variants will be identified.

Wellness officials have identified the Omicron variant back in November in Botswana and South Africa and say it is may perhaps unfold much more conveniently. The variant has been discovered in 21 other U.S. states or jurisdictions.

For a lot more info about COVID-19 variants, stop by the VDH web page and the Centers for Illness Management and Avoidance (CDC) site.