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Health officials encourage Utahns to continue COVID protocols after omicron arrives in state

Vaccines, social distancing and masking continue to be important tools to fight virus, official says

Pamela Manson
For The Park Record

The discovery of the omicron variant of the coronavirus in Utah has reinforced the need to take protective measures against the virus, health officials say.

The Utah Department of Health confirmed the state’s first case of COVID-19 caused by the new omicron variant on Dec. 3. The first confirmed case in the United States was detected in California on Dec. 1.

Derek Moss, nursing supervisor of the Summit County Health Department, said there haven’t been enough cases to know whether omicron is more transmittable than the delta variant or how it affects different demographics.



But, he said, the way to help prevent getting the virus has not changed.

“The reality is the same interventions that were helping initially are still going to be the same interventions that help now — vaccines, social distancing and masking,” Moss said.



According to the Summit County Health Department, 100% of county residents who are eligible to receive the COVID vaccine — those who are 5 years old or older — have had at least one dose and 83% have completed their vaccination series. There have been 7,623 COVID-19 cases and 19 deaths in the county.

Utah has had 609,351 cases of the virus and 3,632 deaths. Of Utahns 5 years old and older, 69.8% have received at least one shot and 61.5% are fully vaccinated.

The person in the state who tested positive with omicron is an older adult who lives within the Southwest Utah Public Health District and recently returned home after traveling to South Africa. The individual was fully vaccinated, received monoclonal antibody treatment and was recovering at home after experiencing only mild symptoms, a release from the state Department of Health says.

The Department of Health conducted a thorough investigation, which included identifying any close contacts. The case was confirmed through ongoing genetic sequencing of positive COVID-19 samples at the Utah Public Health Laboratory, the department says.

The release says the laboratory has robust genetic sequencing capabilities and can sequence up to 3,100 samples each week. It has sequenced 11.6% of all positive COVID-19 PCR samples since the beginning of the pandemic.

The first omicron case was found in Botswana and reported in November to the World Health Organization and the second was in South Africa.

“Given the high number of Utahns traveling in and out of the state, it is not surprising the Omicron variant has been found in Utah,” Leisha Nolen, state epidemiologist at the Health Department, said in a news release.

As of Monday, all travelers arriving into the United States have been required to have proof of a negative COVID-19 test within one day of initial flight departure.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends as a precautionary measure that international travelers who are unvaccinated stay home and away from others for seven days after their trip.

There is concern among health officials that the number of mutations present in omicron may allow it to spread more easily and evade, at least partially, immunity achieved through vaccination or a previous COVID-19 infection. Experts, though, have said there has not yet been enough research into the variant to have a full understanding of its capabilities.

As of Friday morning, there were no reported cases of omicron in Summit County. It seems likely, however, that the variant will arrive in the community at some point.

Moss is hopeful that Summit County will be able to limit the virus’s spread. He noted that many of the visitors to the area are skiers and snowboarders who are outdoors, where masking and social distancing helps.

In addition, the ski resorts have been “amazing partners” by instituting COVID protocols from the beginning of the pandemic, Moss said.

The best tool against COVID-19 is a vaccine, he said.

“In general, as the viruses mutate, they can render vaccines less effective but they are still effective,” Moss said. “The same vaccine that might prevent somebody from getting it at all might just keep somebody out of the hospital or out of the ICU or even just from developing symptoms.”

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