WASHINGTON — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has put out new statistics regarding the extent of the spread of the omicron variant in the United States.
Last week, the CDC reported that 73% of positive cases in America were the result of the omicron variant.
CDC Nowcast data now shows that between December 19 and December 25, 58.6% of positive COVID cases in America were omicron, while 41.1% were delta. Less than a percent of the remaining cases were listed as “other”.
The US Department of Health and Human Services categorizes Delaware, DC, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia as “Region 3” in its compilation and collection of variant proportion statistics.
CDC Nowcast data also shows that omicron consisted of 57.7% of the positive COVID cases in Region 3 last week, while delta made up 42.1% of those cases.
WUSA9 contacted the CDC for an explanation as to why its variant numbers were revised.
The CDC explained that its Nowcast data relies on a model that uses genomic surveillance from around the country to estimate the prevalence of COVID variants.
“It is important to understand that all models have a range of predicted values,” the CDC statement read. “The interval projected last week reflected the speed at which omicron is increasing and this speed introduces variability into the model. It is clear that omicron is quickly becoming the dominant variant, and in some regions in the country, omicron accounts for ~ 90% or more of cases.”
Multiple experts have warned so far that the omicron variant appears to be more contagious than the delta variant.
“Given what we currently know about COVID-19 and the rapid transmission rate of the omicron variant, we know that getting vaccinated and boosted, and taking precautions such as masking will help reduce the impact of COVID-19 in our communities,” the CDC stated.