Omicron variant spreading at low levels in Boulder, according to sewage data

The Boulder County resident who tested positive for the omicron variant of COVID-19 after traveling overseas is likely not the only person in the community to have it, and the public should continue to take precautions against the virus, state health officials said.

The delta variant still accounts for the vast majority of COVID-19 cases in Colorado. The state has confirmed two cases of the new omicron variant, both in people who had recently traveled to southern Africa, but a sample from the Boulder municipal sanitation system detected some of the variant’s distinctive mutations, said the State epidemiologist Dr Rachel Herlihy at a press conference. conference Tuesday afternoon.

Sewage testing cannot determine how many people may be infected, but the results suggest more than one person likely has omicron, Herlihy said. However, it does not appear to be widespread in Boulder.

“There is probably a low level of community transmission,” she said.

The first omicron infection in Colorado has been confirmed in an Arapahoe County resident, but state officials have not reported any spread related to the case.

Herlihy urged people who develop symptoms of COVID-19 or know they have been exposed to take a PCR test, which looks for the genetic material of the virus. While rapid home tests are a good screening tool, the state cannot use them to track variants that are spreading in the community, she said.

“Our detection system only works if people are tested,” she said.

So far, omicron does not appear to cause more hospitalizations in South Africa – where it was first confirmed – than previous versions of SARS-CoV-2, which is “so far reassuring, ”said Herlihy.

It seems to spread faster than the delta variant, but it’s not clear whether that’s because it’s more contagious, or because it’s better at infecting people who are vaccinated or who have recovered from it. COVID-19 infection via another variant. It’s possible both could be factors, but the world won’t know for sure for a few weeks.