Omicron sweeps across nation, now 73% of US COVID-19 cases

NEW YORK (AP)

Omicron has raced ahead of other variants and is now the dominant version of the coronavirus in the U.S.

Federal health officials said Monday that omicron accounted for an estimated 73% of new infections last week. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention numbers show nearly a six-fold increase in the proportion of infections in only one week. Since the end of June, the delta variant has been the main version causing U.S. infections.

Scientists in Africa first sounded the alarm about omicron less than a month ago.

The Kansas City Star reported Monday that two fully vaccinated Kansas City-area residents had tested positive for the variant. The state announced its first case of omicron in a St. Louis resident earlier this month. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services said last week that the variant had also been detected in two sewage systems in the western part of the state.