Two Months After First Infection... Omicron Accounts for 99.9% in the US

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] It has been revealed that 99.9% of new COVID-19 cases in the United States are infected with the Omicron variant.

CNN reported on the 25th (local time) that this estimate was made based on data released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The remaining 0.1% were the Delta variant.

The first Omicron case in the U.S. was confirmed on December 1 last year in California. The proportion of Omicron cases in the U.S. was estimated at 0.6% on December 4 last year, but surged to 89.9% on January 1 this year and 99.4% on the 15th.

Additionally, in the U.S., the number of child cases in the past week exceeded one million for the first time since the pandemic began.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the number of child cases reported in one week as of the 20th was 1.15 million, nearly five times the highest number of child infections during the winter of last year when COVID-19 was rampant.

The AAP stated, "As the pandemic approaches its second anniversary, the number of COVID-19 cases among children and adolescents is reaching an all-time high."

However, the total number of new cases is on a declining trend. According to The New York Times' tally, the seven-day average of daily new cases in the U.S. as of the previous day was 668,312, about 20,000 fewer than the day before (690,448).

Hospitalizations also slightly decreased, with the seven-day average daily number dropping from about 157,000 on the previous day to 156,019 on the 24th. The daily average number of deaths also decreased from 2,182 to 2,083.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.