US: First Omicron death reported in Texas amid COVID surge, deceased was unvaccinated

US on Monday recorded first death caused by new COVID-19 variant Omicron in Harris County, Texas. deceased was a man in his 50s who was t vaccinated against coronavirus and h an underlying health condition, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo told Khou11 local network. death was officially declared as first Omicron fatality by County Judge Hidalgo at anuncement me during an afteron news conference. "My phone was ringing, I'm sure you guys ticed, and it was our public health director telling me we just h our first Omicron-related death," she said. 

resident of  Precinct 2 was among vulnerable group with comorbidity at risk of severe complications from COVID-19, according to reports. "Please - get vaccinated and boosted," Hidalgo said. highly complex strain Omicron, with a cluster of complex mutations, particularly on protein spike, w accounts for 73% of total coronavirus infections across US, CDC reported, citing its sequencing data for week ended Dec. 18. US death from omicron comes just weeks after UK reported first publicly confirmed death globally from Omicron earlier this month. 

World Health Organization [WHO] h earlier issued a statement warning that it expects a steep surge in number of hospitalizations and deaths linked to highly mutated and complex B.1.1.529 Omicron variant of concern. As number of COVID-19 cases from a variant of concern increase globally, “we expect number of hospitalised cases and even deaths to be reported,” said WHO. In Texas, 82% of its new cases are omicron after just three weeks of testing. Texas Children's hospital has also been witnessing a surge in hospitalisations. Local media reports that Omicron cases are doubling and tripling in a matter of just one week. “An urd trajectory that is steeper than anything we’ve seen previously during this pandemic," Dr. Jim Versalovic with Texas Children's Hospital told KHOU11. 

Dr. Fauci warns US will have 'record number of COVID-19 cases, hospitalisations' from B.1.1.529

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden’s medical visor and director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Anthony Fauci said in televised remarks on CNN’s "State of Union” that Omicron w ravaging across 89 countries in world will drive a record number of COVID-19 cases, hospitalisations, and deaths in coming weeks. Dr. Fauci warned of a gigantic winter surge due to variant's high transmissibility, as he expressed concerns about strain’s ability to eve immune protection. When asked by his host Jake Tapper if US is likely to see an upsurge in COVID-19 cases driven by Omicron variant, Dr. Fauci stressed: "Unfortunately, Jake, I think that that is going to happen.” He also cautioned that United States was going to witness “a significant stress in some regions of country on hospital system, particularly in those areas where you have a low level of vaccination.”