Omicron now dominant in US as WHO sounds global warning
- Covid-19 Omicron variant accounted for 73 per cent of new US cases over past week
- WHO director general says 2022 must be the year ‘we end the pandemic’
The fast-spreading Omicron variant is now the dominant strain of Covid-19 in the United States, health authorities reported Monday, as the WHO called for greater efforts to ensure the pandemic ends next year.
Omicron now accounts for 73.2 per cent of new US cases over the past week ending Saturday, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said. In some regions of the country – the Pacific northwest, South and parts of the Midwest – it already comprises more than 90 per cent of new infections.
With Biden set to deliver an address on Covid-19 Tuesday, the White House reported that a mid-level, fully vaccinated and boosted staff member had tested positive for Covid-19 after spending 30 minutes in proximity to the president three days prior. Biden has so far tested negative.
Early data suggests Omicron could be more infectious and possibly have higher resistance to vaccines, despite indications that it is not more severe than the Delta variant.