Shelby County Health Department has reported that two cases of the COVID-19 Omicron variant were identified in Shelby County on December 11, 2021.

Shelby County Health Director Dr. Michelle Taylor said,

“We did expect the Omicron variant to appear in Tennessee, as it has in 19 other states. Shelby County has excellent COVID-19 testing capacity, with several local laboratories which perform viral DNA sequencing as a part of routine surveillance. For that reason, our laboratories were able to identify the tell-tale DNA signature of this new variant. These results indicate the variant may already be spreading in Shelby County and possibly elsewhere in the state.”

While much remains unknown about the Omicron variant, what is known is that COVID-19 vaccines slow transmission of the virus and prevent severe illness, hospitalization and death.