Philly Health Officials Monitoring For COVID Omicron Variant

PHILADELPHIA — Health officials in Philadelphia are closely monitoring coronavirus cases in the city as a new variant is spreading internationally.

Officials Monday said while the city has not seen any cases of the new variant called Omicron, they are watching for the variant in the city.

The Philadelphia Department of Public Health is working with the CDC to learn more about what to expect.

According to the health department, the Omicron variant has mutations that could make it spread more easily.

Officials said preliminary research shows that people who have had a COVID-19 infection, but who have not yet been vaccinated, might be at a greater danger as the World Health Organization says that Omicron causes more reinfections than previous COVID-19 variants. Researchers around the world are working to see how vaccination affects this new strain.

Based on existing evidence, officials said it appears that the vaccines will maintain at least some degree of protection from Omicron, particularly for people who have had booster shots.

Philadelphia health officials are still urging residents to get vaccinated and take precautions to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Masking and avoiding crowded indoor spaces will be important over the next few weeks, both because cases are increasing in the Philadelphia area and because of concerns about this new variant.

Those who have not been vaccinated and those who have but would like a booster shot should go online at vaccines.gov or phila.gov/covid or call 215 685-5488 to find a vaccine provider.

As of Monday, at least 927,507 Philadelphians have been full vaccinated and the number of Philadelphians with at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine to at least 1.15 million.

That means 74.7 percent of Philadelphia adults are fully vaccinated, and 93.1 percent of Philadelphia adults have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Nine percent of 5-to-11-year-olds in Philadelphia have received at least one vaccine dose. Among eligible Philadelphians ages 12 and older, 69.2 percent are fully vaccinated, and 86.2 percent have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

There are 221 patients with COVID-19 are being treated in Philadelphia hospitals and 29 are on ventilators.

In the last two weeks, 3.7 percent of COVID-19 tests in Philadelphia have come back positive.

The city has seen 176,153 confirmed cases of the virus, and 4,074 have succumbed to the virus.

Philadelphia is averaging 253 new cases of COVID-19 per day over the last two weeks.