(Salt Lake City, UT) — State health officials are testing for signs of the COVID-19 variant known as omicron [[ahm-ih-cron]] as it begins to spread across the country. The first case in the United States was confirmed in California Wednesday and it has now been found in New York and three other states. Researchers with the Utah Public Health Laboratory are now testing for the omicron variant. They say almost all of the cases in Utah right now are from the delta variant and they’re concerned that a new wave from the omicron variant could overwhelm Utah’s hospitals.