New Delhi: The US has recorded its first Omicron death in Texas’ Harris county. The individual who succumbed to the new variant was an unvaccinated man with underlying health conditions.
The news was given by County Judge, Lina Hidalgo who took to Twitter to announce the details.
“Sad to report the first local fatality from the Omicron variant of COVID-19. A man in his 50’s from the eastern portion of Harris County who was not vaccinated,” the judge tweeted.
Hidalgo further added “Please - get vaccinated and boosted,” urging people to get their covid-19 vaccines and booster shots.
According to a report by Reuters, the US health department issued a statement to announce that the victim was “at higher risk of severe complications from COVID-19 as he was unvaccinated.”
As per a report by the Centre for Disease Control, Omicron variant accounts for 73 percent of covid-19 infections in the US-based on the sequencing data for the week that ended on December 18, reported Reuters.
So far, this is the first death recorded due to Omicron in the USA. Earlier, in December, the UK had reported the first global death due to Omicron. Now, the death toll in the UK has reached 12, and 104 individuals have been reported to be hospitalised.