On Monday evening, a northwest Harris County woman in her 40s was confirmed to have tested positive for the COVID-19 omicron variant. She had no recent travel history, which local health leaders have said points to community spread.
Later that night, the Houston Health Department confirmed it had identified the variant in the city鈥檚 wastewater. And on Tuesday, the department revealed the variant was found in eight of 39 wastewater treatment plant samples.
All of this suggests that omicron is not only in the community, but is prevalent and spreading, health experts say.
And that means we鈥檒l likely start to see an increase in hospitalizations soon, according to Houston Health Authority Dr. David Persse.
鈥淲e鈥檝e seen a little bit of an uptick in the total amount of virus in the wastewater, so that would suggest to us that in about two weeks, we鈥檙e probably going to start seeing more hospitalizations for patients with COVID,鈥� he said.
The first confirmed case of omicron in Houston was identified , confirmed by Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo. The woman who tested positive was vaccinated and did not need to be hospitalized. Harris County Public Health and the Texas Department of State Health Services said in a press release that they are investigating the case.
The , which was first identified by scientists in , first showed up in the U.S. in California. The identified its first case of omicron on Dec. 3 in an individual who had traveled within the U.S.
There鈥檚 a lot about the Omicron variant that鈥檚 still unknown, Persse said. The two things to be concerned about with any new COVID-19 variant are how fast it spreads and how sick it makes people.
Eventually, Persse said COVID-19 and new variants will be a less of a major part of people鈥檚 daily lives. Waves of infection will become less intense, and the virus will fade into the background like other infectious diseases have in the past.
It could take years to reach that point.
鈥淓ventually we will get there,鈥� Persse said. 鈥淲hether that鈥檚 one year, two years, three years, we鈥檒l have to wait and see.鈥�
Because the omicron variant is known to spread quickly, it鈥檚 not a surprise that its been found in Harris County, said Dr. John Hellerstedt, DSHS commissioner. In a press release, Hellerstedt said that the best protection against serious illness and death from any COVID-19 variant is getting vaccinated.
鈥淓veryone 5 years and older is eligible for vaccination,鈥� Hellerstedt said. 鈥淓veryone 18 years and older should get a booster shot when they are eligible.鈥�
Although some epidemiologists in South Africa are reporting milder cases with Omicron, Persse said people in the U.S. who are unvaccinated that have not been previously infected with the virus could be at risk. Most of South Africa鈥檚 population has been previously infected, which Persse said could be providing them protection from serious illness when they鈥檙e reinfected with Omicron.
No matter how mild the symptoms are, hospitals could still be overwhelmed if the omicron variant overcomes delta, the predominant strain in the U.S.
Omicron spreads rapidly, so it could infect even more people than the Delta variant. If a large percentage of the population gets infected with the new variant, more people could end up hospitalized than the already full hospitals can handle.
"The cases will start to increase," said Dr. Peter Hotez, co-director of the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children鈥檚 Hospital. "Will (omicron) overtake delta here in Texas? It鈥檚 hard to say. Delta鈥檚 been the king of all variants. In terms of transmissibility, it鈥檚 hard to imagine how something could overtake it."
Hotez鈥檚 concern is echoed by many health experts, who remain more concerned with delta. Hotez called omicron his "second biggest concern," behind the continuing delta wave in Texas.
"I mean, what could be worse than the fact that we鈥檝e had 20,000 unvaccinated Texans since June 1 needlessly lose their lives out of vaccine defiance and refusal?" Hotez said. "When I think about things that keep me up at night, it鈥檚 the next wave of the delta variant. So I think that鈥檚 one to keep things in perspective. We鈥檝e done a terrible job vaccinating the state of Texas."
Matt Harab contributed reporting
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