Omicron variant present in Wyoming

Omicron is now confirmed to be present in Wyoming, though at this time the only known cases are across the state from Crook County. The latest Greek letter to be associated with the COVID-19 pandemic was identified on Friday in Albany County.

A press release from the University of Wyoming states that the first Omicron case in Wyoming was a student living off campus who had recently traveled domestically. When the announcement was made on Friday, a second off-campus student who is also thought to be infected.

By Monday, three cases of the variant had been confirmed in Albany County.

The cases were identified as part of the UW diagnostic testing program through the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory. The first student with a confirmed case had received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine but not a booster shot and was experiencing mild symptoms, according to UW, while the second student was fully vaccinated, had received a booster and was asymptomatic with a very low viral load.

“With the quick spread of this variant across the nation, including within some of our neighbor states, we are not surprised with this result and expect there are other cases within Wyoming that haven’t yet been identified,” said Dr. Alexia Harrist, state health officer and state epidemiologist, in a press release from the Wyoming Department of Health.

“We continue to encourage vaccination, including recommended booster doses, as the best and most effective strategy to counter COVID-19.”

Omicron was first detected in Botswana and South Africa in November and classified as a Variant of Concern shortly after. It was confirmed to be present in the United States on December 1 and has now been identified in the vast majority of states.

At this time, much remains unknown about the new variant, which appears to be spreading fast around the globe. Early indications suggested it may cause less severe infections, but this has not yet been confirmed.

Omicron has caused concern in the medical community due to its high number of genetic mutations – approximately 50, of which 36 are on the spike protein that allows the virus to penetrate human cells and cause infection.

The Centers for Disease Control believes the Omicron variant will probably spread more easily than the original COVID-19 virus, but as yet it is not known how easily it will spread compared to Delta, the variant that caused the most recent spike of infections in America. Breakthrough infections in people who are fully vaccinated are likely to occur, though the current vaccines are still expected to protect against severe illness and death.

Despite the spread of the new variant globally, Wyoming remains in the downward swing of its most recent spike in infections. On Friday, just 104 people were hospitalized due to COVID-19, compared to an all-time high of 249 on October 21.

Of those patients, none were hospitalized in Crook County, which has not seen any COVID-19 hospitalizations since December 9.

The deaths of 30 more Wyoming residents were announced on Tuesday, including a man from Crook County, bringing the total in this county to 22 and the overall state total to 1502.