According to the most recent COVID-19 variant data released by New York, Omicron is increasing quickly and may soon be the dominant variant around the state.

The data from the end of November and the beginning of December showed that the Omicron variant was relatively low,

The Omicron variant was first confirmed in New York State on December 2, 2021. For samples of SARS-CoV-2 collected between November 21 and December 4, 2021 from New York that are sequenced and entered into GISAID, 1.1% were the Omicron variant.

The most recent data collected shows just how quickly the variant has spread,

For samples of SARS-CoV-2 collected between December 5 and December 18, 2021 from New York that are sequenced and entered into GISAID, 30.9% were the Omicron variant, compared to 1.9% in the previous two-week period.

According to Governor Hochul's COVID-19 update released yesterday, the Omicron variant is even more prolific than the data from NYDOH,

Data this morning in the GISAID database, the largest repository of SARS-CoV-2 sequences in the world, show the Omicron variant comprised 90% of uploaded sequences from NYS between 12/20/21 and 1/2/22.

Cases are increasing at alarming rates across the state,

RegionSunday, January 2, 2022
Capital Region16.12%
Central New York16.32%
Finger Lakes16.68%
Long Island24.94%
Mid-Hudson21.42%
Mohawk Valley13.22%
New York City22.31%
North Country12.88%
Southern Tier13.70%
Western New York17.95%
Statewide21.49%

On Sunday, January 2, 2022, 103 people died from COVID-19, bringing the total across the state to 61,514, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

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