US registers its first death linked to Omicron variant

The United States have reported its first death linked to the Omicron variant as Texas’ Harris County on Monday registered its first death related to the variant.

The county’s health department said that the man who died was unvaccinated.

According to the ABC News, it is believed that the first known recorded Omicron death in the United States.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) did not make any immediate comment on the issue.

The victim, aged between 50-60 years old, was at higher risk of severe complications from COVID-19 as he was unvaccinated, the health department said in a statement.

The Omicron variant of the coronavirus accounts for 73 percent of US coronavirus infections based on sequencing data for the week ended December 18, the CDC said on Monday.

Earlier, Britain reported the first publicly confirmed death globally from Omicron. Twelve people in Britain have now died with the variant.

ARR