According to Jack Kleinhenz, chief economist at the National Retail Federation, the spread of the highly infectious Omicron variant will likely fuel inflation as Americans shop instead of spending less outside the home.

In a press release Wednesday, the advisor to a major retail trade organization stated that he doesn’t expect Covid cases to cause an economic slowdown and a business shutdown.

In the press release, he stated that “Little can be certain about omicron’s impact on consumer demands but people who remain at home because the variant is more likely to spend money on retail goods than on services like dining out and in-person entertainment.” Because supply chain overloads are common around the globe, this would add to inflation.

He stated that although each successive variant had slowed the economy, the extent of that slowdown was less. He also said that consumers might be more confident to spend if they have been fully vaccinated, or if they hear about milder variants.

Covid cases at the U.S. hit a pandemic record of more than 1 million new infectionsAccording to Johns Hopkins University data, Monday was the highest day for new infections. A CNBC analysis of Hopkins data shows that the nation is reporting an average seven-day count of nearly 480,000 new infections.

Restaurants and retailers have taken note of the increase in coronavirus infections. Starbucks, Apple, Nike GapAthletas that are owned by Athleta often close down stores or cut hours to meet short staffing requirements. WalmartTemporarily shut nearly 60 U.S. stores in coronavirus hotspots last month to sanitize them. Macy’sIt was declared Tuesday reducing store hours for the rest of the month.

However, many of those same stores have made it easier for customers to shop in other ways — from home delivery to curbside pickup.

National Retail Federation says that holiday sales will not be affected by the pandemic. The National Retail Federation predicted that December and November sales would be the best. rise between 8.5% and 10.5%Comparatively to last year, this record amount of $843.4 billion was reached.

Kleinhenz later raised that forecast by stating in December, that holiday sales could rise by as much as 11.5%Comparatively to the same period a year ago.

After the Census Bureau’s December retail sales data, the trade group will report on the official holiday sales totals next week.