Omicron makes up 95.4% of U.S. COVID cases as of Jan. 1, says CDC

The Omicron variant was estimated to be 95.4% of the coronavirus strains circulating in the United States as of Jan. 1, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Tuesday.

The variant has swiftly spread across the country since its detection on Dec. 1, replacing Delta as the dominant strain and sparking a new wave of infections that pushed daily cases near the 1 million mark on Monday.

The CDC said the variant accounted for an estimated 77 per cent of cases in the week ended Dec. 25, up from the 58.6 per cent projection it had disclosed last week.

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The fast-spreading variant was first detected in southern Africa and Hong Kong in November and has since swept through the globe at lightning speed, although signs that it may cause milder symptoms than previous strains have offered some relief.

1:16 U.S. could reach Omicron COVID-19 peak in next few weeks: former FDA commissioner

The CDC had last week lowered its estimate for cases Omicron accounted for in the week ended Dec. 18 to 22 per cent from 73 per cent, citing additional data and discrepancies caused by the variant’s rapid spread.

The Delta variant accounts for 4.6 per cent of all U.S. COVID-19 cases as of Jan. 1, the CDC data showed.