Omicron has been discovered in the US.
Jim Inman Photo: canva.com
The first known omicron variant of COVID-19 has been found in the United States.
The case was reported in San Francisco on Wednesday. The person had traveled to South Africa and returned to the US on November 22. The person was fully vaccinated.
“We knew that it was just a matter of time before the first case of omicron would be detected in the United States,” presidential adviser Anthony Fauci said at a White House news briefing.
The severity of omicron is still unknown. It has been spreading across South Africa in recent days.
The news comes the same day as Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb extends Indiana’s health emergency.
Holcomb had asked the Indiana General Assembly to pass legislation allowing the state to continue to receive certain types of federal funding as well as allow Hoosier children under the age of 12 the option of vaccination outside a physician’s office.
However, those plans have changed with the discovery of omicron.
Cases of COVID-19 in Indiana have risen in recent weeks. On Tuesday more than 4,000 new cases were reported on the state’s COVID-19 website, as well as 117 new deaths.
Just over 60% of Hoosiers over the age of 18 are fully vaccinated.
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A Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology professor will be participating in the first-ever Jeopardy tournament for college professors.
Julia Williams, an English professor at the Terre Haute school, was one of 15 professors selected from across the country to participate in the tournament.
Williams told FOX 59 that she had tried to get an appearance on the game show for more than ten years, but never had any luck. However, earlier in the year a Jeopardy producer reached out to let Williams know she had been selected for the new professor tournament.
The professor has a doctorate in British Literature, and has taught courses in Humanities, Social Sciences and the Arts. She has also worked as a bartender and waitress, which she said makes her a natural for the game show’s Potent Potables category.
The tournament is scheduled to air beginning December 6, and will be hosted by actress and scientist Mayim Bialik.
