As Omicron Variant Spreads, COVID Cases Are Rising Fastest in These 5 States

Connecticut, New Jersey, North Carolina, the North Mariana Islands and Rhode Island are seeing COVID-19 cases rising at the fastest rates in the United States, as the Omicron variant continues to spread around the country.

According to data from The New York Times on 10 December, Connecticut has seen a 123 percent rise in number of daily cases over the past 14 days, making it the state where COVID cases are rising most quickly.

That figure now stands at 1,676 new cases a day.

The North Mariana Islands follows, with a 107 percent increase in average daily cases over the last 14 days. It now records on average 65 new cases a day.

Rhode Island is the state with the third fastest rising of COVID cases, seeing a 96 percent surge over the last two weeks. As of Friday, it has a daily average of 926 new cases a day.

New Jersey is also seeing cases surge, recording 91 percent more daily average cases than 14 days ago. It now records 4,170 new cases a day on average.

North Carolina has seen daily cases average skyrocket by 91 percent since November 26. It now records 3,122 new cases on average a day.

Kentucky has seen COVID infections creep up by 80 percent over the last 14 days. On average, it records 2,301 new cases a day.

In terms of number of cases, New York is seeing the highest number of average daily new cases of COVID, recording 9,673 per day for the last seven days. This figure represents a 45 percent rise over the last 14 days.

Michigan is seeing the second highest rise, with 8,386 new cases a day on average for the last week.

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said on December 7 that the Omicron variant had been found in 19 U.S. states and reported in 50 countries so far. She said that she expected the number to continue to increase.

Despite a rapid surge in Omicron cases in South Africa, making it now the dominant strain there, hospitals are still not overwhelmed and early symptoms seem to be milder than previous variants.

But Maria Van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization's technical lead on COVID, warned Thursday against referring to the new variant as "mild" amid early reports that it isn't yet causing as much severe disease as in previous waves.

Speaking to New Scientist magazine, Van Kerkhove warned that "people will die" from Omicron, adding: "Saying 'it's only mild' is very dangerous.

"If it is more transmissible than delta, there will be more cases, more hospitalisations and more deaths."

There is still much to learn about the severity of the new variant, but a study in Japan this week suggested that Omicron may be more than four times more infectious than Delta.