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Omicron's mutations are concerning, but also make the variant easier to detect

IPB News | By Sebastián Martínez Valdivia
Published December 8, 2021 at 7:28 AM CST

The first confirmed case of the omicron variant in the U.S. was identified Wednesday about a week after its discovery in South Africa.

There’s still a lot we don’t know about this new strain, but Side Effects Public Media’s Sebastián Martínez Valdivia reports some tracking the variant in the Midwest are hopeful they’ll get up to speed soon.

Side Effects Public Media is WFYI's health reporting team and a Midwest reporting collaboration.

Copyright 2021 Indiana Public Media. To see more, visit .

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Sebastián Martínez Valdivia
Sebastián Martínez Valdivia is a health reporter and documentary filmmaker who focuses on access to care in rural and immigrant communities. A native Spanish speaker and lifelong Missouri resident, Sebastián is interested in the often overlooked and under-covered world of immigrant life in the rural midwest. He has a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Missouri and a master's degree in documentary journalism at the same institution. Aside from public health, his other interests include conservation, climate change and ecology.