New Omicron COVID Case Has NYC Link

NEW YORK CITY — A new omicron coronavirus case detected in Minnesota has a link to New York City under investigation by health officials.

The case — which is the second confirmed omicron infection detected in the United States — involved a man from Hennepin County, Minnesota, who recently attended an anime convention at the Javits Center.

Gov. Kathy Hochul said during a Wednesday conference that she's been coordinating with Mayor Bill de Blasio, Javits management and Minnesota officials.

"This is not cause for alarm," she said.

"No confirmed cases in the state of New York, however we are very cognizant of the fact that is very likely soon that someone is going to test positive for this," she said.

De Blasio also told New Yorkers to assume the omicron variant is in the city, if undetected.

“We are aware of a case of the Omicron variant identified in Minnesota that is associated with travel to a conference in New York City, and we should assume there is community spread of the variant in our city," he said in a statement.

The Minnesota man had attended the AnimeNYC convention, which ran from Nov. 18 to 22, Hochul said. She said officials will conduct contact tracing help from the convention's organizers and encouraged people who attended it to get tested.

“They have a list of contact information for everyone who attended,” she said.

The man, who was vaccinated, suffered mild symptoms that have since "resolved," Minnesota health officials said. He attended the convention from Nov. 19 to 21, they said.

He developed symptoms on Nov. 22 and got tested on Nov. 24, officials said. A Minnesota lab since confirmed he had the omicron variant.

De Blasio said the convention had required masks and attendees to be vaccinated.

"We are working closely with the State and the CDC, as well as the Javits Center’s event organizers, and our Test and Trace Corps will be contacting conference attendees," he said in a statement.

Both Hochul and de Blasio have outlined steps, which lean heavily on vaccination and mask wearing, to fight against the variant.

"We are not defenseless," Hochul said.

Hochul said she'll soon hold a joint news conference with Mayor Bill de Blasio about the omicron variant.

Like @HealthNYGov’s top public health expert, @DrMaryTBassett, just said, we have the tools to fight omicron and any other variant.

Get vaccinated, get your booster, get tested, and wear a mask.
— Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) December 2, 2021

Related coverage:

Omicron Variant Detected In MN

This is a developing story. Refresh for updates.