The third U.S. case of the Omicron COVID-19 variant has been found in Colorado just hours after the second case was confirmed in Minnesota.
In a press release issued on Thursday afternoon, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) said the case was identified in an adult woman who lives in Arapahoe County, where Aurora is located.
She had recently traveled to Southern Africa for vacation, but it's unclear which countries she has visited, when she developed symptoms or when she tested positive.
The woman was fully vaccinated and is experiencing mild symptoms, but is currently in isolation at home.
All close contacts have tested negative and CDPHE is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to identify passengers who may been exposed on the airplane or while the woman was in Africa.
It comes just hours after the second case was confirmed in a Minnesota man who had recently attended an anime convention in New York City last month with more than 50,000 attendees.
The variant was initially detected by South African officials last week, and experts are uncertain of its origins.
A recent study found Omicron is 2.4 times more infectious and is believed to be potentially vaccine evasive due to its many mutations.
South Africa has experienced a massive surge in Covid cases since the variant was first discovered, with the nation reporting 11,535 new cases on Thursday after averaging less than 500 new cases per day only two weeks ago.
The news of the variant's spread in the U.S. comes on the heels of a holiday party in Norway that is believed to be the largest Omicron variant outbreak to date, with at least 50 vaccinated attendees testing positive.
A Minnesota man who attended Anime NYC in late November has the second confirmed case of the Omicron variant in the U.S. He has no recent history of international travel, meaning he contracted the virus from someone else in the country. Pictured: Two cosplayers at Anime NYC
Minnesota health officials report that the infected man felt mild symptoms the quickly resolved. They also say he abided by public health guidelines. Pictured: Two members of the Minnesota National Guard prepare to assist a local hospital treat Covid patients in St Paul on November 22
The Minnesota Department of Health confirmed the infection on Thursday morning in a resident who lives in Hennepin County, which includes Minneapolis.
He was fully vaccinated and had mild symptoms, but has since recovered.
The patient had attended NYC Anime between November 19 and 21, before returning home and testing positive for the virus on November 22.
During a press conference on Thursday, Minnesota health officials said the man has no recent history of international travel, meaning he contracted the variant in the United States in late November - and the variant was already circulating within the country before the world was alerted to it last week.
'Minnesota's nation-leading genome sequencing infrastructure and strong testing network have allowed the state to quickly track the COVID-19 virus and better understand its spread. Today, those tools detected a case of the Omicron variant in Minnesota,' said Governor Tim Walz in a statement.
'This news is concerning, but it is not a surprise.
'We know that this virus is highly infectious and moves quickly throughout the world. Minnesotans know what to do to keep each other safe now - get the vaccine, get tested, wear a mask indoors, and get a booster. Together, we can fight this virus and help keep Minnesotans safe.'
Health officials said the infected patient is an adult male, but did not disclose his age.
He is fully vaccinated, and first began to experience symptoms of Covid on November 22, before the variant had even been identified, and tested positive on November 24.
Minnesota Department of Health officials said at a press conference on Thursday that at least one close contact of the man has tested positive for Covid and has been asked to isolate.
Additionally, there are ten samples taken from Minnesota patients that have placed on 'high alert' of potentially being of the Omicron strain.
The man has complied with public health guidelines.
In South Africa, where the variant was first detected last week, more than 11,000 cases were recorded on Thursday - only two weeks after the nation was posting a daily average of less than 500
'He has isolated and done all those things we would want him to do from a public health mitigation standpoint,' an official said to the media.
Health officials say he had recently attended Anime NYC - an anime convention at New York's Javits Center - from November 19 to 21.
The estimated attendance of the convention was more than 53,000, with people traveling from around the nation to attend.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio warned Thursday that it is likely others in the city have contracted the variant as well.
'We are aware of a case of the Omicron variant identified in Minnesota that is associated with travel to a conference in New York City, and we should assume there is community spread of the variant in our city,' de Blasio said in a statement.
'We are working closely with the State and the CDC, as well as the Javits Center's event organizers, and our Test and Trace Corps will be contacting conference attendees. This conference required masks and complied with our Key2NYC requirement to mandate vaccination.'
He also urged any Anime NYC attendees to get tested as soon as possible.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul said at a news conference on Thursday that the man's symptoms were mild, and have already resolved.
She noted that all attendees of the event the man attended had to show proof of vaccination.
'We're not defenseless against this variant,' Hochul said, encouraging New Yorkers to get vaccinated and wear masks in public places to protect themselves.
'In addition to vaccination and boosters, we can slow the spread of this variant and all COVID-19 variants by using the tried-and-true prevention methods of wearing masks, staying home when sick, and getting tested when appropriate.'
'I don't want anyone to panic over this,' Hochul said.
Not much is known about the variant just yet, but many health officials fear the worst.
The variant was first detected in South Africa last week, but is believed to have originated in either Botswana or in a European country.
South African health officials are reporting that cases of the variant they have seen so far have been more mild than those of other variants.
It has 50 mutations, including more than 30 on the spike protein that the COVID-19 vaccines target to prevent infection.
For comparison, the Delta variant - which was responsible for a massive surge of cases in the U.S. over summer - only had seven mutations of the spike protein.
The Covid Genomics UK Consortium released imaging on Thursday showing just how drastic the differences between the Delta and Omicron variant are.
Nearly 400 cases of the variant have been confirmed across 34 countries worldwide.
Because of these many infections, vaccine experts fear the shots could be rendered ineffective against the new variant.
A South African expert also reports that the variant could bypass natural immunity provided by previous infection, and it re-infecting Covid survivors at a rate three times that of other variants.
Cases have also begun to skyrocket in South Africa after the variant was first detected there, another worrying sign for health officials.
Nothing can be said for certain yet, though, and more information is expected to be gathered about the variant over the next few weeks.
The largest Omicron variant outbreak in the world so far may be a result of a Christmas party last month.
Over 100 Scatec employees traveled from Norway to Cape Town, South Africa, for a Christmas event in November.
Upon return, somewhere between 50 to 60 of them tested positive for Covid, with at least one being a confirmed case of the Omicron variant.
It is feared that many, if not all, of the cases will revealed to be of the variant once sequenced.
All attendees of the Cape Town trip were fully vaccinated, Scatec reports, and none of the infected have suffered a serious illness so far.
'We still have more to learn about Omicron, but the most important thing we can do right now is to use the tools we have available to make it as hard as possible for this virus to spread,' Minnesota Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm said.
She also said that this time the state would not be caught off guard like it was in March 2020, when New York City suffered a massive surge right at the start of the pandemic.
On Wednesday, the first case of Omicron in the U.S. was sequenced in San Francisco, California.
Images release by the Covid Genomics UK Consortium show the drastic increase in spike protein mutations in the Omciron COVID-19 variant when compared to the Delta variant
That person - whose sex was not revealed - had recently traveled from South Africa, according to local officials and was fully vaccinated.
'The individual is self quarantining and all close contacts have been contacted and all close contacts thus far have tested negative,' Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, told reporters during a briefing on Tuesday.
California Governor Gavin Newsome said that the person is between the ages of 18 to 49.
American officials are cautioning citizens, but warning them not to panic in the wake of a new threat, though.
President Biden said Wednesday that officials are still learning more, but the 'jury's still out' on if it poses a threat to fully vaccinated Americans.
'We're going to know in the next several weeks just not only how transmissible the disease is but how extensive it is, how dangerous it is and what damage it does, and most importantly, whether the vaccines we have are capable of dealing with this virus,' the President said.
The U.S. moved on Monday to shut down travel from eight southern African nations including Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Biden unveiled his winter Covid plan on Thursday, which includes increased vaccination and new travel requirements.
The President plans to push the Food and Drug Administration to allow for children under the age of five to get vaccinated against Covid - as they are the remaining ineligible age group in the U.S.
Such a move would place the U.S. among a short list of countries which have approved vaccines for children this young: China, Cuba, Argentina and Venezuela.
Biden also plans to require all inbound U.S. travelers to produce a negative Covid test within 24 hours of travel regardless of vaccination status.
Private insurers will also be required to cover the costs of at-home testing.
The administration is also extending the mask mandate for public transport until March 18.
Originally, the requirements in airports and in airplanes, buses and trains was set to expire in mid-January, but is again being extended with the emergence of the Omicron variant.
The CDC is also working to contact trace people who may be exposed to the new variant and prevent spread of the virus.
'CDC has been actively monitoring and preparing for this variant,' Dr Rochelle Walensky, director of the agency, said in a statement.
'...CDC has expanded its capacity for genomic sequencing over the past nine months and we have more tools to fight the variant than we had at this time last year from vaccines to boosters to the prevention strategies that we know work including masking in indoor public settings, washing your hands frequently and physical distancing.'
Vaccine manufacturers are also working quickly to gather data on the new variant, and have shown willingness to rollout potential Omicron specific booster shots if needed.
Dr Ugar Sahin, founder of BioNTech - which is partnering with Pfizer for the rollout of its Covid vaccine - said earlier this week that he believes his company's shot can still prevent serious complications from the variant, even if it can cause breakthrough infections.
A Moderna executive said on Wednesday that this company would have an Omicron-specific booster shot available as early as March if necessary.
BioNTech and Johnson & Johnson have both also announced plans to work on an Omicron specific vaccine, if necessary.
Anime NYC was plagued with issues concerning long wait times and alleged failures to properly check vaccine information upon entry to the Javits Center.
Many attendees report that they were stuck in lines for hours to enter the convention, crowded around hundreds of people from outside of their household, putting them at risk of contracting Covid.
Some attendees also reported that IDs were not checked along with vaccine cards - a standard for proof of vaccine requirements - opening the door for potentially fraudulent vaccine cards to allow entry into the event.
Anime NYC released a four page letter to both its Twitter and Facebook page on Tuesday, apologizing for the long wait times and conditions suffered by some trying to attend the event.
The event organizers did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com'suest for comment.
In the letter, Peter Tatara, founder of the convention, mentions that much of the convention center was also overcrowded for the weekend.
'Everything was packed much, much more,' he wrote.
'Why? We underestimated how many fans would come early and spend every moment of the weekend in the convention center.'
He specifically mentions long wait times on the Friday of the convention, November 19, and how the convention was unprepared for the large amount of people that arrived, causing overcrowding.
Comments from earlier in the week, before the Omicron case was linked to the conference, criticize the event for long wait times and selling more tickets than usual during a pandemic, and for the overcrowding.
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