The New York Times (NYT) reported on the 5th (local time) that the new mutation of Corona 19 infection, Omicron, had already landed in the United States before a name was given.



The newspaper reported that Peter McGinn (30), who was the first confirmed case of Omicron in Minnesota, tested positive for COVID-19 on the 23rd of last month.



However, it was more than a week after he was confirmed as infected with Omicron through gene sequencing.



The 23rd of last month is three days earlier than the 26th of last month, when the World Health Organization (WHO) named a new mutation (B.1.1.529) as omicron and designated it as a 'mutation of concern'.



It was also on the 24th of last month that South Africa reported omicron mutations to the WHO.



McGinn, a medical analyst and host of the Japanese animation 'Anime' podcast, tested positive for Corona 19 after attending the 'Anime NYC 2021' event held in New York from the 19th to the 21st of last month, and many of his friends who attended the event also 19 confirmed cases.



"I'm effectively the first (Omicron's) infection," McGinn said, saying how he got infected is still a mystery.



New York City health officials have sent emails and text messages to tens of thousands of attendees at the event, urging them to be tested for COVID-19.



However, we have yet to find any examples of omicron transmission at this event.



On the 4th, a confirmed case of Omicron related to this event was also reported in Connecticut.



It was confirmed that a man in his 60s who had a member of his family at an anime event had Omicron.



The NYT pointed out that it wasn't clear whether 'Anime NYC' became Omicron's super-spreader event, or whether McGinn contracted Omicron at the event, but about half of the 30 people who remembered McGinn hanging out at the event were diagnosed with COVID-19. He said he tested positive.



However, tracing the contacts of an infected person is not easy.



McGinn went out for dinner and drinks at an anime event for a few days, and stayed with two friends at an Airbnb dorm.



I went to a karaoke bar in Koreatown and sang, and during the day I attended panel discussions at anime events and chatted with strangers.



"I don't think it's necessary to do individual phone interviews with the 53,000 attendees," said Dr. Wafa El-Sadder, an epidemiologist at Columbia University. They are considered contacts,” he said.



The New York Times pointed out that the coronavirus appears to have again outpaced the response of health officials.