Omicron has raced ahead of other variants and is now the dominant version of the coronavirus in the US, accounting for 73 per cent of new infections last week, federal health officials said Monday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention numbers showed nearly a six-fold increase in omicron’s share of infections in only one week. In much of the country, it’s even higher. Omicron is responsible for an estimated 90 per cent or more of new infections in the New York area, the Southeast, the industrial Midwest and the Pacific Northwest. The national rate suggests that more than 6,50,000 omicron infections occurred in the US last week.

Since the end of June, the delta variant had been the main version causing US infections. As recently as the end of November, more than 99.5 per cent of coronaviruses were delta, according to CDC data. CDC Director Dr Rochelle Walensky said the new numbers reflect the kind of growth seen in other countries. “These numbers are stark, but they’re not surprising,” she said.