TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — It’s been several weeks since the Covid-19 Omicron surge in South Africa peaked.
Health experts say it might happen in the United States very soon.
The CDC says Omicron is rapidly increasing the proportion of Covid-19 cases it is causing, and it’s expecting a surge of cases in a matter of days or weeks.
“The modeling has predicted that sometime in late January is when we’re going to peak,” USF Health’s Dr. Michael Teng said.
There are more than 800,000 new Covid-19 cases every day nationwide. The latest data show the Omicron variant makes up nearly 100% of new infections in the country.
USF Health’s Doctor Michael Teng says Florida has high positivity rates, meaning people are not testing enough. But although a peak is days away, Teng believes we’ll eventually turn a corner with Omicron.
Some areas across the country are starting to see lower cases.
“We might have a little longer decline, but remember when we hit a peak we’re at the top, that means that’s the most number of cases, that means we still have to come down,” Teng said.
The worst of Omicron’s grip on the country may still be ahead.
“We need to get through the next couple weeks and that’s when we’ll see probably a bigger decline in cases in two weeks or so,” Teng said.