The New York Times – “Even as scientists race to understand more about the Omicron variant and the threat it poses, one fact is abundantly clear: It spreads quickly everywhere it lands. In South Africa, Omicron spread twice as fast as the highly infectious Delta variant. In Britain, officials have estimated that 200,000 people are becoming infected with Omicron every day. In Denmark, Omicron cases are doubling roughly every two days. And early data from the United States suggest that Americans will not be spared. “No part of the country will be safe from Omicron,” said Shweta Bansal, a disease ecologist at Georgetown University. Delta remains the dominant variant nationally and was driving a surge in cases and hospitalizations even before Omicron emerged. Roughly 120,000 new Covid cases are being reported every day, a 40 percent increase from two weeks ago, although the figures remain below last winter’s peak. But Omicron could soon overtake Delta, scientists said. Nationally, the share of cases caused by Omicron has increased to 2.9 percent from 0.4 percent in just a week, according to projections by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and is far higher in some regions of the country…”

• See also the Washington Post: “As the omicron variant threatens to wipe out monoclonal antibodies, the U.S. is saving up one that will still work. Sotrovimab, a treatment from Vir Biotechnology and GlaxoSmithKline, is expected to remain effective against omicron..” [Note: WaPo is posting pandemic related articles on this Coronavirus page.]
• See also The Atlantic: America Is Not Ready for Omicron. “The new variant poses a far graver threat at the collective level than the individual one—the kind of test that the U.S. has repeatedly failed…”