COVID-19 variant HV.1 has become the variant responsible for most COVID cases here in the United States in just a few short weeks.
The CDC’s most recent data shows that the percentage of weekly hospitalizations per 100,000 people in Harris County due to COVID-19 has increased more than state and national rates.
The Houston Health Department announced Wednesday it is now recognized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a National Wastewater Surveillance System Center of Excellence.
Look, life as we know it right now is pretty insane. Omicron is raging across the country, it didn’t even feel like 2021 happened and America’s sweetheart, Betty White, is dead.
Americans across the country and here in Southeast Texas are facing long lines for COVID tests as cases continue to climb.
We might not be able to claim that 2021 was *the* wildest year in recent history (2020 will likely get that credit for quite some time), but it might be a close second.
The city of Houston knows a lot of you are infected with Omicron, and they don’t even need your test results to prove it. They’ve been sampling your wastewater since July 2020.
Greece’s health minister says music will be banned at all commercial venues for New Year’s celebrations as part of new restrictions announced in response to a surge in COVID-19 infections fueled by the omicron variant.
President Joe Biden has announced plans to deliver 500 million free COVID-19 tests to Americans, increase support for hospitals and expand the availability of vaccines to confront a winter surge of coronavirus cases driven by the fast-spreading omicron variant.
Omicron has raced ahead of other variants and is now the dominant version of the coronavirus in the U.S. Federal health officials said Monday that omicron accounted for an estimated 73% of new infections last week.
The omicron variant is offering more hints about what it may have in store as it spreads around the globe: A highly transmissible virus that may cause less severe disease, and one that can be slowed — but not stopped — by today’s vaccines.
Houston Methodist has identified eight cases of the omicron variant through its comprehensive virus genome sequencing surveillance project, a spokesperson for the hospital said.
It seems like nothing will slow the surge of traveling lately, but health leaders are hoping that doesn’t equal a surge in COVID cases – specifically eyeing up the omicron variant.
The Omicron variant has yet to be detected in Houston but Chief environmental science officer Dr. Loren Hopkins with the Houston Health Department says they’ve been testing the wastewater to detect new variants with help from public works.
While all eyes are on the new and little-understood omicron variant, the delta form of the coronavirus isn’t finished wreaking havoc in the U.S., sending record numbers of patients to the hospital in some states, especially in the Midwest and New England.
KPRC Health Reporter Haley Hernandez sat down with Kelsey-Seybold’s managing physician of vaccine practices to get more information on the Omicron variant.
The White House COVID-19 Response Team and federal public health officials are providing updates on the COVID-19 response effort on the newly-discovered omicron variant.
Britain says it will offer all adults a booster dose of vaccine within two months to bolster the nation’s immunity as the new omicron variant of the coronavirus spreads.
