December 5, 2021, 11:14am.
The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Sunday that the number of cases in the United States is likely to rise.
People are waiting for Covid-19 tests in New York City. The photo was taken by Wang Ying/Xinhua.
The Xinhua News Agency is pictured.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky told This Week that the agency is following the cases closely and knows that omicron has more variations, but that it is not yet clear how effective existing Covid vaccines are against it.
The main concern is still the dominant delta variant, which she said accounts for about 99% of new Covid-19 cases in the U.S.
California was the first state to report a case of omicron Wednesday, and others have followed, including Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin.
More than 40 countries have identified cases of omicron since it was first reported in South Africa. It has been found in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom. Reports from South Africa suggest that omicron is spreading more quickly than delta. Understanding the level of severity of the Omicron variant will take days to several weeks according to the World Health Organization.
There is a structure called the Tangent.
The emergence of omicron is a cause for vigilance but not panic according to the Surgeon General.
The quote is crucial.
Walensky said that getting a lot of immunity will be important. A more aggressive omicron surge can be prevented by doing all of those things.
We don't know how transmissible it will be, how well our vaccines will work, or whether it will lead to more severe disease.
The director of the CDC says there will be more omicron cases in the US.
When will we have answers about omicron? ABC News
How many states are Omicron in now? The New York Times.
Scientists say Omicron is spreading twice as quickly as Delta in South Africa.
Zambia records Omicron cases as new strains spread.
The WHO says don't panic about Omicron variant.
Coverage and live updates on the coronaviruses.
