WASHINGTON: Omicron variant is estimated at 95.4% of Coronavirus strains circulating in the United States on January 1, the Center for Control and Prevention of US disease (CDC) said on Tuesday.
Variants have quickly spread throughout the country since detection on December 1, replacing Delta as a dominant strain and triggering a wave of new infections that drive everyday cases near the 1 million sign on Monday.
The CDC said the variant contributed around 77% of cases in the week ended December 25, up from the projection of 58.6% which was revealed last week.
The rapidly spread variant was first detected in South Africa and Hong Kong in November and since it swept the world at lightning speed, although the signs that it could cause lighter symptoms than the previous strain had offered previous assistance.
The CDC has last week reducing estimates for cases recorded by Omicron on Sunday which ended 18 to 22% from 73%, citing additional data and differences caused by rapid spread of variants.
The Delta variant accounted for 4.6% of all US Covid-19 cases on January 1, CDC data showed.