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Harris County recorded its first death attributed to the omicron variant of COVID-19, County Judge Lina Hidalgo announced Monday. ABC News said the death was believed to be the first recorded due to the omicron variant. The person who died, a man in his 50s, was a resident of Harris County Precinct Two, Hidalgo said. The man was reportedly unvaccinated. The news was reported hours after Hidalgo raised the county’s coronavirus threat level to ‘significant.” (González Kelly, 12/20)

Harris County reported its first casualty from the COVID-19 omicron variant on Monday, less than one month after the heavily mutated version of the virus was detected in South Africa. Announcing the death, which is believed to be the first recorded due to omicron in the nation, County Judge Lina Hidalgo said the latest variant’s arrival in the Houston area “feels like whiplash” after a period of receding cases. She’s not the only one grappling with the swift rise of omicron amid the busiest travel season of the year: Houston-area doctors watching omicron’s breakneck march across much of the globe said the highly transmissible variant is likely to take hold in the coming months, with potentially severe consequences for the one-third of Texans who remain unvaccinated. The World Health Organization estimates indicate the variant is reproducing itself faster than any previous iteration, with the number of new cases doubling every 1.5 to 3 days. (Mishanec and González Kelly, 12/20)

Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday said New York City is experiencing a rapid surge of omicron infections, but he expects the wave to peak in a matter of weeks. “It’s going to be a very challenging few weeks. But the good news is based on what our healthcare leadership understands, at this moment, we are talking about a matter of weeks,” De Blasio told the public during a Covid update on Monday. (Kimball, 12/20)

The omicron variant, which health officials estimate to be up to three-times more infectious than the delta variant, was detected in West Virginia last week. “Projections show that for the 2021 holiday season, we will approach the highest number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in West Virginia since the pandemic began,” according to the release. “As a state and a nation, we are in this crisis together, and although there have been multiple calls for action in the past, we need your help now more than ever to ensure health care services are available for everyone who needs them.” (12/20)

The number of Californians being infected and hospitalized with COVID-19 has crept up over the last two weeks — increases that, though slight, may worsen as winter begins and the state contends with the continued spread of the Omicron variant. Even with the recent upticks, both metrics remain well short of the devastating numbers from last winter’s surge, when explosive growth of the coronavirus ravaged the state. But the combination of current conditions and caution surrounding the weeks to come has already prompted officials to issue new health restrictions and organizers to cancel, postpone or recalibrate some sports contests and holiday events. (Money, 12/20)

California is poised for a surge in new coronavirus infections as a far more contagious version of the disease spreads among holiday parties and family gatherings forced indoors by a series of winter storms. But experts say the nation’s most populous state is likely to avoid the worst scenario — spikes in hospitalizations and deaths — because most Californians have either been vaccinated or already been infected. That gives the state a higher level or protection against the omicron variant that, while not guaranteeing people won’t get sick, means they are less likely to need to go to the hospital. (Beam, 12/21)

For U.S. school officials struggling with a sharp rise in Covid-19 cases, winter break can’t come soon enough. There were 646 Covid-related school closings for this week, up from 356 the week before, according to Burbio, a data service that aggregates calendars nationwide. Schools in states including Michigan, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Ohio shifted to virtual learning or closed early for winter break. Several already are planning remote class in January. (Sherman, 12/20)