Omicron variant found in nearly one-third of U.S. states

The Omicron variant of the coronavirus has spread to about one-third of U.S. states, while a probable Omicron case was found on a cruise ship that reached New Orleans, U.S. health officials said on Sunday.

Though the emergence of the new variant has caused alarm worldwide, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease official, told CNN "thus far it does not look like there's a great degree of severity to it." He added that it was too early to draw definitive conclusions and that more study is needed.

Fauci, U.S. President Joe Biden's chief medical adviser, said he also hoped the United States would lift its ban on travelers from southern African countries in a "reasonable
period of time."

The South African government has complained it is being punished - instead of applauded - for discovering the new variant and quickly informing international health officials.

Fauci, in an interview on CNN's "State of the Union," praised South Africa for its transparency and said the U.S. travel ban was imposed at a time "when we were really in the dark" and needed time to study the variant.

At least 16 U.S. states have reported Omicron cases: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin, according to a Reuters tally.

Many of the cases were among fully vaccinated individuals with mild symptoms, although the booster shot status of some patients was not reported.

Despite several dozen Omicron cases, the Delta variant still accounts for 99.9 percent of new Covid cases in the United States, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told ABC News in an interview.

"We are everyday hearing about more and more probable cases so that number is likely to rise," she said.

The United States over the last seven days has averaged 119,000 new cases a day and lost nearly 1,300 lives to Covid each day, according to a Reuters tally.

Louisiana currently has one Omicron case from a crewman on a cruise ship, its health department said on Sunday.

So far 17 Covid cases have been found on a Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd cruise ship set to dock in New Orleans with more than 3,000 passengers.

Officials said passengers on the Norwegian Breakaway, which stopped in Belize, Honduras and Mexico, would be tested and given the CDC's post-exposure and quarantine guidelines.

"At this time, there have been no changes to scheduled future sailings on Norwegian Breakaway," a spokesperson for Norwegian Cruise Line said in a statement to Reuters.

(Reuters)