The Omicron variant arrives in Nashville, but Delta is still the local COVID concern

A Nashville resident who recently returned from South Africa has been confirmed as the city’s first confirmed patient with the COVID Omicron variant. The Metro Public Health Department says the patient was vaccinated and boosted, and experienced mild symptoms.

Tennessee’s first case of the more contagious variant was confirmed in Memphis on Saturday. It’s also been found in Chattanooga.

More: New evidence shows omicron likely spreads twice as fast as delta in South Africa

Some U.S. cities, including Houston, are seeing a sharp rise in cases due to Omicron and expect it will overtake Delta within weeks. It remains unclear whether the new variant will make people as sick as Delta, but it does appear to more easily evade the existing vaccines.

Still, in Nashville, it’s the Delta variant that’s causing most of the cases, according to public health officials. And cases have been on a slight uptick in recent weeks.

Marianna Bacallao contributed to this story.