The arrival of the omicron variant of the coronavirus has health officials in some U.S. communities reviving contact tracing operations in an attempt to slow and understand its spread. Scientists are still studying how contagious omicron is.
FILE - This May 13, 2020, file photo taken with a fisheye lens shows a list of the confirmed COVID-19 cases in Salt Lake County early in the coronavirus pandemic at the Salt Lake County Health Department, in Salt Lake City.
Contract tracers have been busy in Nebraska after six cases of omicron were confirmed Friday. One of the people had recently returned from a visit to Nigeria, and the other five were close contacts of that person. Contact tracing is a vital tool in the pandemic response, allowing health departments to notify people who had close contact with an infected person and slow the progression of COVID-19.
Proof of vaccination was necessary for admission, as mandated by city law, and masks were also required.