According to health officials, the first case of the micron variant was confirmed in Baja California on Thursday. Ahead of this, the Secretary of Health, J. Adrián Medina Amarillas, urged the public to reinforce Covid-19 prevention measures during the holiday season, especially now that the presence of the contagious variant in the state has been confirmed.

The sequencing was carried out at the National Institute of Genomic Medicine (INMEGEN) and submitted to the Institute for Epidemiological Diagnosis and Reference, according to him (INDRE).

On December 13, a 40-year-old guy from Mexicali arrived to have a PCR test conducted at a private laboratory in that capital; the sample was processed and submitted to Mexico City for genome sequencing, as per protocol at this stage in the pandemic.

"INDEGEN sent it to INDRE yesterday afternoon, and they notified the State today; we are already tracking this case that was detected in a private laboratory promptly; before the arrival of the first case of this variant, the State will reinforce epidemiological surveillance, timely diagnosis, and health promotion," said Medina Amarillas.

The Ministry of Health followed up on the patient and the disease's progression, verifying that he was already asymptomatic and that the situation was not severe enough to necessitate hospitalization.

The Health Minister emphasized that, while the Omicron variant is more transmissible than other variants, it is not as severe as some cases of the Delta variant; he also noted that the common symptoms of Omicron are similar to those of Delta (nasal congestion, headache, sore throat, fatigue) and that patients receive the same treatment.

The Secretary of Health urged the public to remain calm while following standard sanitary precautions such as wearing face masks, ventilating enclosed places, washing hands often, and maintaining a social distance of at least 1.5 meters.

"Be confident that we are striving to discover this and all variations as soon as possible, as well as maintaining vaccination days for various age groups so that COVID-19 does not have a significant influence on Baja Californians' health," he said.

AN OVERVIEW OF EPIDEMIOLOGY

According to the Scientific Committee, 450 new cases of COVID-19 were verified by the end of December 29, including 89 instances from Mexicali, 247 from Tijuana, 65 from Ensenada, 27 from Rosarito, seven from San Quintin, 14 from Tecate, and one from San Felipe. The state recorded 24 deaths during the same period, 14 of which occurred in the state capital, 4 in Tijuana, and 6 in Ensenada.

There are 1,079 current cases, including 933 from Tijuana, 470 from Mexicali, 330 from Ensenada, 85 from Rosarito, 26 from San Quintin, 73 from Tecate, and two from San Felipe.

There have been a total of 10 thousand 844 deaths in the entity due to the virus: 3 thousand 925 in Mexicali, 4 thousand 941, 1 thousand 511 in Ensenada, 228 in Tecate, 187 in San Quintin, 39 in Rosarito, and 13 in San Felipe.

The Ministry of Health reports a drop of 69.2 percent in COVID cases and a fall of 51.2 percent in general care; the IMSS reports a decrease of 69 percent in COVID cases and 57.5 percent. There are 2,549 ambulatory cases in Baja California, 193 hospitalized cases, and 101 patients who require mechanical breathing.

VIDEO: Wednesday morning, December 22nd, with Marina del Pilar