“The seven-day average of daily deaths are about 1,100 per day, which is an increase of about five percent over the previous week,” Walensky said during a White House COVID-19 Response Team press briefing.
The Omicron variant of the coronavirus has now been confirmed in at least 36 states and over 75 countries, Walensky said. However, the Delta variant still represents approximately 96% of cases across the country, the Omicron variant is estimated to represent about 3% of US cases, Walensky added.
The US expects to see the number of cases involving the Omicron varaint, which early data suggests to be more transmissible than the Delta variant, to grow in the coming weeks, Walensky said.