How scientists in San Francisco found the first case of the omicron COVID-19 variant in the US

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

SAN FRANCISCO — The first case of the coronavirus omicron variant in the United States was confirmed at 4 a.m. Wednesday after an all-night session by scientists here.

The city's tightly connected network of public health and university medical center researchers worked together to confirm an infection reported six days earlier was indeed omicron. As soon as the results came in, they were quickly communicated to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The case began on Nov. 22, when a traveler flew into San Francisco International Airport from South Africa, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said at a news conference.

The person, a San Francisco resident who was not identified, did not develop COVID-19 symptoms until Thanksgiving Day. Two days later, on Nov. 28, they were tested and got the results back the next day. Positive.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/how-scientists-in-san-francisco-found-the-first-case-of-the-omicron-covid-19-variant-in-the-united-states/ar-AARmlJc

[GusBob]

1. Interesting

They are not using the "he" or "she" first person singular pronoun and the plural "they" instead, perhaps to protect the person's identity or for those who reject gender identity pronouns

Which is fine, but in this article it makes it seem as if more than one person was infected

[Laurelin]

2. I find the singular "they" very confusing

I can understand the need for a non gender specific pronoun but I wish they'd use "it" or create a new pronoun altogether. Lately I've seen "they" a lot in place of he or she.

I suppose we'll adapt.

[GusBob]

3. I think in this case it was for privacy

Hipaa maybe

But overall, I think it has its place, but not everywhere. In a press report for instance or places where accuracy matters. Or perhaps a professional setting

A colleague used "their" in a professional bio which our clients can read in print and online. Quiet a few people noticed (one said 'hey there' s a typo') When you try to explain it to them (our clients runs older in age) they get even more confused. One older person was very uncomfortable and transferred her services to a different provider within the organization, which was me. I could kinda sorta understand her consternation: she wanted to work with someone she could understand ( the gender neutral concept confused her) and trust, (at first she thought it meant my colleague had a split personality), she was worried that my colleague was describing herself in gender neutral terms, which was not the case.