El Paso County reported its first identified case of the omicron variant, health officials announced Tuesday.

The person, a 40-year-old man, is fully vaccinated and has received a booster dose. The man reported mild symptoms and has completed isolation, El Paso County Public Health said in a news release.  He had a history of domestic travel during his exposure period, the release said.

“The emergence of a new variant underscores the importance of practicing layered prevention,” the agency said. “El Paso County Public Health (EPCPH) recommends that individuals get vaccinated and get their booster shots when eligible.”

El Paso becomes the latest Colorado county to identify a case of the variant, which has exploded across the United States and became the nation’s dominant COVID-19 strain over the past week. Delta remains the prevalent variant in Colorado, but Gov. Jared Polis said Tuesday that it was only a matter of “days or weeks” before omicron took over here.

On Monday, Denver announced it had confirmed its first two cases of omicron; both are the result of community spread, the city said, meaning the virus is circulating locally. Cases had previously been identified in Arapahoe, Boulder, Jefferson, Pitkin and Garfield counties. One of the state’s monitoring systems, which examines wastewater to determine what strains are circulating within communities, identified traces of omicron in various parts of the Denver metro area.

A recent burst of COVID cases in Eagle County over the past week is “highly likely” a result of omicron, as well, the state Department of Public Health and Environment told the Gazette on Monday.

Significant questions about omicron remain unanswered — namely, if it’s going to be more severe than the initial strain or delta. But it’s becoming increasingly clear that the variant is more transmissible than the virus’ initial version.

“All of us have a date with omicron,” Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told The Associated Press. “If you’re going to interact with society, if you’re going to have any type of life, omicron will be something you encounter, and the best way you can encounter this is to be fully vaccinated.”

Despite some unanswered questions, officials in Colorado and elsewhere have said the strategies used to blunt the spread of the virus for the past 21 months will remain vital: masking, vaccinations, booster doses, social distancing and hand hygiene.

To find out more information on vaccines, visit www.elpasocountyhealth.org/how-can-i-get-a-vaccine.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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