Alameda County cases tied to Wisconsin wedding
By Jason Green and Fiona Kelliher
Staff writers
ALAMEDA COUNTY >> Five “mildly symptomatic” COVID- 19 cases involving the omicron variant have been identified in Alameda County, joining a growing list of omicron clusters across the nation, public health officials said Friday.
The five omicron infections are among 12 COVID- 19 cases that have been linked to a Nov. 27 wedding in Wisconsin, the Alameda County Health Care Services Agency said in a news release.
Alameda County Public Health Department Public Information Manager Neetu Balramconfirmed Saturday that all 12 of the county residents attended the wedding. One person attended the wedding upon returning from international travel. It is unknown if more of them will be identified as having the omicron variant.
The infected individuals are between 18 and 49 years old and live in Alameda County except for one resident of Berkeley, which has its own health jurisdiction. All 12 were vaccinated and most had received boosters.
“They are mildly symptomatic,” the agency said. “No one has been hospitalized.”
A state lab used genomic sequencing to identify the five individuals infected with the variant, which has been detected in nearly 40 countries and at least 12 states since it was first discovered by South African scientists in November.
The Alameda County and Berkeley public health departments are working to investigate the cases with the support of the California Department of Public Health and notify close contacts of the infected people to quarantine or isolate.
The agency said it doesn’t know yet how omicron will impact a highly vaccinated region like the Bay Area. Relatively little is known about the variant, which is thought to have started circulating sometime in mid-October before it was identified. The first case of omicron in the U.S. was found in a San Francisco resident on Wednesday and more cases were confirmed Thursday in New York, Colorado, Minnesota and Hawaii.
Public health officials have urged everyone to get vaccinated and receive booster shots as soon as they are eligible.
“We remind residents that vaccination continues to provide the best protection against severe illness from COVID-19 that could result in hospitalization and death,” the agency said.
