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A new variant of the COVID-19 virus has emerged: 

. The variant was first detected in Botswana and South Africa in November. The first case reported in the U.S. was found in California on Wednesday and 

Minnesota on Thursday reported its first case

 of the variant, found in a Hennepin County resident who’d traveled recently to New York City. Cases have also been confirmed 

in Canada, Spain, Germany, China and other countries

. Is it more contagious? Is it more likely to make people seriously ill? Or is it more resistant to vaccines than other variants?

Guest host Catharine Richert talked with infectious disease specialists about what we know about the variant, what we don’t know and what it means at this stage in the pandemic. 

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A new variant of the COVID-19 virus has emerged: the omicron variant. Guest host Catharine Richert talked with infectious disease specialists about what we know about the variant, what we don’t know and what it means at this stage in the pandemic. 

MPR News with Angela Davis - A new variant of the COVID-19 virus has emerged: the omicron variant. The variant was first detected in Botswana and South Africa in November. The first case in Minnesota was reported on Thursday. Because it’s so new, little is known about the variant. Is it more contagious? Is it more likely to make people seriously ill? Or is it more resistant to vaccines than other variants? Guest host Catharine Richert talks with infectious disease specialists about what we know about the variant, what we don’t know and what it means at this stage in the pandemic. 

What we know about the omicron variant

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