The omicron variant of the coronavirus represented about 58.6% of current COVID-19 cases for the week ending on Christmas, according to CNBC.
- That means the majority of new COVID-19 cases were caused by the new omicron variant.
The delta variant accounts for about 41.1% of U.S. COVID-19 cases right now, according to new data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- New research suggests the omicron variant could outpace delta because omicron will give people enough immunity to the delta variant, according to The Times of Israel.
The CDC has a new map that shows where you can find cases of the omicron variant right now. When I wrote about it last week, delta represented about 96.7% of COVID-19 cases and omicron represented 2.9% of cases. That has now vastly changed.
- Per the map, omicron variant cases were mainly concentrated in the northeastern United States, along with some cases in the South, per the Deseret News.
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Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, told CNN that the omicron variant will infect millions by the end of winter.
- “We’re really just about to experience a viral blizzard,” Osterholm told CNN. “In the next three to eight weeks, we’re going to see millions of Americans are going to be infected with this virus, and that will be overlaid on top of delta, and we’re not yet sure exactly how that’s going to work out.”