COVID-19 Omicron variant confirmed in Dallas-Fort Worth, including Tarrant County case
Just days after the COVID-19 Omicron variant was detected in Houston’s Harris County, a North Texas laboratory reported two confirmed cases of the mutated virus in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
One case involves a Tarrant County resident, public health officials confirmed Thursday. The other resident who tested positive is from Collin County.
Tarrant County Public Health received a report Thursday from a Frisco lab indicating a man in his 30s from Tarrant County contracted the COVID Omicron variant, the department said in a news release. The man has not traveled internationally recently. TCPH is in the process of a case review.
The Tarrant County man reportedly did not experience symptoms but had exposure to someone who was sick. The other patient, a 40-year-old Plano man, said he had a fever and cough for multiple days, Frisco-based Ayass Bioscience reported to KTVT-TV.
The two individuals were fully vaccinated, with the Pfizer shot, but had not received their booster dose, CBS 11 reported.
“It has not been shown to be more virulent than the Delta, but definitely more transmissible,” Dr. Mohamad Ayass, the CEO of Ayass Bioscience, told CBS. The laboratory sent the data to the state health department.
The variant was first identified in Texas through a Houston woman in her 40s on Monday. Researchers remain unsure whether the strain is infecting people at a faster rate, is more aggressive than other variants, is causing more hospitalizations than the delta variant or how effective vaccines are against it.
The CDC has reported that the Omicron variant has been found in 21 states across the country, according to Tarrant County Public Health.
While this is the first confirmed case of the Omicron variant in Tarrant County, there’s a possibility that others have had this variant and gone undiagnosed, the health department said.
People who feel ill should get a COVID-19 test, Tarrant County officials recommended, adding that the best protection against all COVID-19 variants is full vaccination with any of the three available vaccines. Those who are eligible are encouraged to get the booster shot as well.
This story was originally published December 9, 2021 at 11:56 AM.
