The CDC said Wednesday it has confirmed the first U.S. case of the new, heavily mutated coronavirus variant called omicron, which was detected in Northern California.White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said the patient, who was fully vaccinated, had just returned to the San Francisco area Nov. 22 after traveling in South Africa and tested positive Nov. 29.“The individual is self-quarantining, and all close contacts have been contacted and ... thus far, have tested negative,” he announced at a White House press briefing providing more details of the case. “We feel good that this patient not only had mild symptoms, but actually the symptoms appear to be improving.”The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said genomic sequencing was initially conducted at the University of California, San Francisco, and the CDC confirmed the omicron variant.cnbc.com