According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the omicron Covid-19 variant was first identified in south Africa approximately a month ago. It now accounts for about 3% in cases sequenced in America.

According to the CDC this variant represented 2.9%, an increase from 0.4% in the week before. It still accounts for about 97%, or 2.9% of the cases sequenced in the United States.

There have been more than twenty-six omicron case reports from states so far. California confirmed the first omicron-related case in America on December 1, when a South African resident flew in from South Africa. However, the CDC said Friday that they have confirmed an earlier case in the U.S. of omicron from a patient who had symptoms since Nov. 15. The exact date of the first occurrence of the variant in the U.S. is not known.

According to the CDC, one person vaccinated with omicron was admitted to hospital on Friday. However, no deaths were reported. among the 43 patients that have been followed up on. So far, the most frequent symptoms are: a runny or stuffy nose, fatigue, congestion, and cough.

The majority of those who were vaccinated were at least 14 days old when they first noticed symptoms or tested positive.

The CDC stated that 33% (3 of 43) patients had traveled to other countries in the fourteen days preceding developing symptoms and testing positive. It indicates that the U.S. is experiencing community spread.

Public health professionals and scientists agree that omicron can be contagious. However, little information is available about the severity of the disease. United Kingdom a level 4 Covid alert on SundayThis is a level below the most severe warning levels. Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, confirmed this Monday first omicron death in the U.K.On Monday, the British government warned that there is a “tidal tsunami” of omicron infection.

Sajid Javid, U.K. Health Secretary, said Monday that the spread of omicron was at an “phenomenal pace”, with new cases increasing by two per day. Javid warned last week that the U.K. faces more than 1 million omicron cases by year end.

Rochelle Wallenksy (CDC Director) stated that the U.S. doesn’t face an urgent time frame similar to the U.K. regarding omicron. “I don’t anticipate will be in the same time frame as U.K. And we continue to follow cases, so we’ll take that into consideration,” she told a White House Covid update.

But Dr. Michael Osterholm of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy believes that omicron is likely to overtake Delta in the United States soon.

Osterholm said to CNBC Thursday that “it’s only a matterof time before omicron become the dominant variant here, which I think could happen fairly quickly.”

A seven-day average of Johns Hopkins University data shows that the U.S. reports nearly 120,00 new cases each day. The numbers are flat in comparison to last week but have increased 25% over before Thanksgiving.

A seven-day average of Department of Health and Human Services data shows that approximately 66.500 Americans are being hospitalized with Covid-19. That’s up 22% from the previous two weeks. This is still below the level of the earlier delta wave peak, when the virus was infected more than 100,000 people.