Omicron Makes Up 2 Percent Of New England COVID Cases: CDC

NEW HAMPSHIRE — The omicron coronavirus variant is less prevalent in New England than the national average.

Officials with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated the highly contagious variant represents 2.3 percent of COVID-19 cases in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Vermont and Maine.

It only makes up about 3 percent of cases in the rest of the United States, the government said.

Rochelle Walensky, who heads the CDC, told the "Today Show" on Tuesday that increasingly it appears the omicron variant causes less severe cases, but said there's still reason for concern.

"You still have a lot of people who are getting sick," she said, adding some of the most vulnerable people could experience severe COVID-related illness or death.

Massachusetts and Connecticut confirmed their first cases of the omicron variant on Dec. 4, while Rhode Island's and New Hampshire's were found in the past week.

The delta variant remains much more prevalent across the country, accounting for 97 percent of infections in New England, but officials warn that cases involving the omicron variant have been trending upward nationwide in recent weeks.

Omicron cases have been detected in 33 states, which Walensky said indicates that it is quickly becoming the predominant strain as more cases emerge.