Los Angeles County reported its first case of the heavily mutated Omicron variant of the coronavirus Thursday evening — a development that, while not unexpected, nevertheless underscores the need for residents to continue to take steps to protect themselves, public health officials said.

“Throughout the pandemic, we have always known there would be more mutations, resulting in the possibility of a more dangerous variant than the Delta variant,” county Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said in a statement. “While we can’t know for certain the impact of Omicron at this time, the good news is that we already know how to reduce transmission and slow spread using both pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical interventions.”