Omicron so contagious most Americans will get Covid, top US health officials say

Authorities said even as Omicron shatters records for new cases, they are hopeful the surge will quickly subside, and said the US needs to focus on ensuring hospital systems do not collapse amid the surge.

With several major mutations, the Omicron variant has spread rapidly around the globe and shattered records for new daily cases in the US. The CDC reports that the variant is now responsible for more than 98% of Covid-19 cases in the US, replacing Delta in less than a month.

At the same time, the variant is believed to be less lethal than previous strains and there is some evidence it may quickly peak.

An average of more than 761,000 Americans a day tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday, the day of the hearing, according to the New York Times. Even this tally is known to be a vast undercount, because few people report the positive results of at-home rapid tests to health authorities.

On the same day the previous year, also the peak of a winter surge, an average of 251,232 people tested positive for Covid-19.

Even as Omicron stresses essential systems, severe illness is not inevitable, and health authorities stressed the importance of vaccination to reduce the likelihood of severe illness. The CDC is also considering a recommendation for Americans to wear N95 and KN95 masks, rather than cloth ones, if possible.