Recently, in the media, it has become apparent that there are going to be more and more variations of COVID-19 and it is unknown how mutated they shall be. Just last week, reports from news stations across the country showed how quickly this new mutation spreads and it also shows how urgent it is that we get this under control. It first started with President Biden restricting travel from five countries in Africa but even that precaution did not help as much as we thought. The one issue that some scientists recognize is that by the time we take precautions, the virus is already here. That is exactly what happened. Not even a week after the travel ban, we had our first confirmed case in California. Not even a week later, we had another report come in that someone in Minnesota tested positive as well. However, that one person in Minnesota recently attended the famous Anime Convention in New York and the people he traveled with just recently tested positive for Omicron as well.

Over the weekend we saw the Omicron variant come to Philadelphia as well. Especially in the northwest part of the city. There was also a woman who tested positive in New Jersey as well. So far almost 1/5 of our states have at least one confirmed case of the new variant. Cities and hospitals across the country are also dealing with the effects from Thanksgiving. If the mayors and governors do not take precautions we might see an increase in omicron on top of those who are already seeking medical help.

“It’ll be another week or so before we see the full effects of the Thanksgiving holiday on these numbers, but with the colder weather and the recent spikes with a new variant on the horizon, this is a time to be very careful.”

Philadelphia Health Commissioner, Dr. Cheryl Bettigole.