Lab testing has confirmed a COVID-19 case involving the omicron variant in Minnesota, state health officials said Thursday.

President Joe Biden is urging Americans to get vaccinated, including booster shots, as he seeks to quell concerns over the newly identified coronavirus variant named omicron.

South African scientists identified a new version of the coronavirus this week that they say is behind a recent spike in COVID-19 infections in Gauteng, the country’s most populous province.

South African scientists identified a new version of the coronavirus this week that they say is behind a recent spike in COVID-19 infections in Gauteng, the country’s most populous province.

An advisory panel of the World Health Organization classified a new COVID-19 variant first detected in South Africa as a highly transmissible virus of concern and named it "omicron" under its Greek-letter system.

The Delta variant is now the dominant strain of COVID-19 here in the United States. According to the CDC, it now accounts for 51% of cases reported.

A variant of the coronavirus first identified in the United Kingdom is now the most common strain circulating in the United States.