A new COVID-19 variant called Omicron is causing concern across the world.
Dr. Don Yealy, the Chief Medical Officer for UPMC, tells Marty Griffin on NewsRadio KDKA that we don't know a lot of about it, except that it's different, it has many more changes than, for example, Delta did, compared to the previous variants, and it looks like it may be easier to pass around than the original strains:
“Whether or not it’s going to be easier to pass around and replace Delta variant, which is what’s happening in 99.9 percent of infections in the U.S. right now, I don’t know yet, we’ll know soon enough,” said Dr. Yealy. It clearly will spread, there’s no doubt about that.”
Dr. Yealy says to protect yourself against Omicron and all the variants of this virus, follow these three simple activities: Wear your mask wherever you can, get your vaccine if you haven't already, and if you feel sick, don't go out and get tested quickly.
The Omicron variant was in initially identified in South Africa and has also been detected in a handful of other countries.
No official cases have been reported in the United States yet.