The newest Covid-19 variant, Omicron, is sweeping the globe with more and more cases every day.

English Teacher here at Glacier Peak, Gerald Christensen, was in the airport waiting for his flight with his wife, daughter and son. While at the airport, his flight was cancelled, and their luggage was delayed, “It was a fiasco. I knew I was going to get it, there was so many people, and there was so many not wearing masks” Mr. Christensen said. “My first thought was- crap! Then I thought ‘oh no- my kids are going to get this!'” And he would be right, as he started getting sick just days after, his wife and kids right behind him. Mr. Christensen explains his symptoms as having all symptoms except loss of smell and taste. In the end, all of Mr. Christensen’s family is okay and back to normal. “It’s such a delicate topic for some. I will say, stay safe, wear a mask, practice social distancing, wash your hands, wipe down your area. I do not want to see people get this.” He finished.

Omicron had been gaining traction since the first cases were being reported to the World Health Organization back on November 24th 2021. Not soon after, it was reported to the World Health Organization as a variant of concern. On December 1st the first U.S. case of Omicron was detected. As we can see, this variant is gaining traction very fast, and now there is even a new subvariant of Omicron named BA. 2, and according to reports on Jan. 26th 2022, two cases of this new descendant were found in Washington State earlier this month. The variant is unofficially nicknamed “Stealth Omicron”, due to suspicions that the subvariant is harder to detect than original Omicron. The subtype has yet to gain traction in the U.S., and it is most common in Asia and Europe.

Just remember to mask up, social distance, and keep one another safe so we can keep Glacier Peak open.