Lamont: Omicron surfaces in CT
Governor urges caution but says state prepared, no new restrictions needed
“I think we are prepared and I’d like to think we are not going to have the surge in hospitals in other vaccinated states.” Gov Ned Lamont, speaking on ‘Face the State’
The threat of the omicron variant arrived quickly in Connecticut, raising alarm over how contagious the new strain is and what this could mean for the trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic amid already high numbers.
While little is known about the variant, Gov. Ned Lamont, who appeared on “Face the State” early Sunday, said he believes Connecticut residents are doing the right thing and new restrictions are not needed at this time.
“They don’t need me pushing. But people of a certain age, stay out of contagious situations. We just don’t know enough about this variant. Be careful,” Lamont said on Face the State.
But given Connecticut’s location between major urban areas like New York and Boston, Lamont said he is concerned.
“No state is an island and no country is an island,” Lamont said on “Face the State.” “Good news is we have 95 percent of our folks over the age of 12 have had some vaccine. I think we are prepared and I’d like to think we are not
going to have the surge in hospitals in other vaccinated states.”
A Hartford County man in his 60s was diagnosed with Connecticut’s first confirmed case of the omicron variant, top state officials confirmed late Saturday.
Little is yet known about omicron, which was discovered less than a month ago in South Africa, aside from it having a menacing number of mutations — 34 on the spike gene. Researchers globally are working quickly to determine what characteristics this strain possesses. The obvious concern among health officials at the local, state and federal levels is whether this variant can spread more rapidly or evade immunity, for many conferred through vaccine.
The 60-year-old man identified as Connecticut’s first omicron case appears to have not developed serious symptoms, state officials said. He first discovered he was ill through an at-home test — a follow-up molecular test confirmed he was positive for COVID-19, officials said.
But he appears to have gotten caught in an alarming web of infections that connect back to a New York City anime convention, which led to the second confirmed case of omicron in the country last week.
According to state officials, the Hartford County man contracted the virus from an individual who attended the convention. State officials said a family member attended the conference and developed symptoms on Nov. 21 then tested positive for COVID on Nov. 23.
The event, Anime NYC, had strict COVID-19 protocols in place to limit the spread of the virus. According to its website, attendees were required to show proof of vaccine and face masks were required. Additional measures were put in place to stop the spread of infections from increased space and sanitation to highgrade air filters.
However, a cluster of cases, several confirmed as omicron, have been connected to the event, including the Hartford County man.
When asked on “Face the Nation” whether the man had received a booster, Lamont said it was not clear.
“I am not sure about the booster shot; I do know that the patient was immunized and over the age of 60. I think sometimes there’s too much emphasis on the infection. I think the good news with the vaccination, in this case the patient is at home, resting peacefully and no need to go the hospital,” Lamont said. “And that’s one of the key things that we know the vaccines are effective at.”
But infections like this, where a person is fully vaccinated, have been increasing in recent months, especially with the delta variant, which is the dominant strain in Connecticut.
As of last week, the state reported more than 25,000 so-called breakthrough cases, in which an individual contracts COVID-19 after being fully vaccinated. For the first time since the state started tracking the numbers, at least 1 percent of people fully vaccinated have contracted COVID-19.