NJ's Second Omicron Case Traced To NYC Convention: What We Know

MONMOUTH COUNTY, NJ — As of Monday, there have now been two confirmed cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant in New Jersey, and the second case was in a Monmouth County man.

The Monmouth County man attended the Anime NYC convention at the Javits Center in November and became ill on Nov. 24, said the New Jersey Department of Health in a statement. The man experienced mild illness, did not have to be hospitalized and has since recovered.

The man was fully vaccinated and had also recently received a booster before he got sick, the Department of Health said. The department declined to say what town in Monmouth County the man is from, citing the man's privacy.

The anime convention is being investigated by state health officials as a "super spreader" event, as a Minnesota man who attended the convention was also diagnosed with omicron variant, the Hoboken Patch reported.

"Our expectation is that we have individuals in New Jersey who attended the convention and may potentially be at risk," NJ Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said last week. "I urge anyone who attended to get tested as soon as possible to stop potential spread of this variant and protect themselves, their families and communities."

The Anime NYC convention was held from Nov. 19 to 21 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center and had 53,000 attendees.

New Jersey's first confirmed omicron case was a Georgia woman traveling to New Jersey from South Africa, who was positive for the variant on Nov. 28 after feeling sick on her airline flight. She has since recovered.

However, state health officials suspect other omicron cases in the state and lab tests are pending. Read more: More NJ Omicron Cases Suspected As Hospitalizations Surge

The NJ Dept. of Health has been working with other states and the CDC to rapidly identify individuals who may have been infected with the omicron variant.

So far, the omicron variant appears to cause mild symptoms, but the United Kingdom just confirmed its first death with the omicron variant on Monday.

The state Dept. of Health urged New Jersey residents to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and get a booster shot, as protection against the virus and the ability to prevent serious illness appears to decrease over time.

However, booster shot uptake remains low: While more than 70 percent of residents have received their primary vaccine series, only 34 percent of residents eligible have received a booster, said the state Department of Health on Friday.

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