CDC Slashes Omicron Estimates: See Latest New Jersey Cases

NEW JERSEY — Federal health officials have walked back week-old estimates claiming the highly contagious omicron variant is responsible for nearly 3 out of 4 new coronavirus cases in parts of the United States, though in New Jersey those higher numbers are still accurate.

On Dec. 18, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 73 percent of new cases were linked to omicron. This week, however, the agency revised those figures, slashing the earlier estimate to 23 percent — a drop of nearly 50 percentage points.

The drastic change suggests that while omicron cases are on the rise, the variant is not infecting people nationwide at the rate the CDC had projected.

“There's no way around it, it is a huge swing that makes it seem like something went really wrong," Dr. Shruti Gohil, associate medical director at UC Irvine's School of Medicine, told National Public Radio. "But there is always a delay in the testing information that comes in, and that's what the public should take away.”

The new data comes a month after omicron was detected half a world away and days after Americans gathered for the holidays. It also comes as New Jersey reports its highest-ever cases of coronavirus: the state hit a new record on Thursday with over 27,000 new COVID-19 virus cases reported in one day and also 50 new deaths. This new record is just about 12,000 more than the previous record from last week when New Jersey reported 15,482 cases.

Despite this week’s revision, omicron cases are increasing nationwide. The variant accounted for nearly 59 percent of all new cases for the week ending on Dec. 25. The delta variant — the variant more likely to cause severe illness — still accounts for nearly 41 percent of new cases.

The CDC groups New Jersey in with New York, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands when reporting COVID-19 data.

In this region, the omicron variant made up 88.4 percent of new cases for the week ending Dec. 25. The delta variant made up 11.5 percent of cases for that week.

In the week ending Dec. 18, 54.4 percent of cases reported were the omicron variant and 45.2 percent were the delta variant.

Bergen, Essex, and Middlesex counties have the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in New Jersey overall, state data shows. State data tracking coronavirus variants was last updated for the week ending Dec. 11, when the delta variant made up almost 97 percent of cases.

In some regions of the U.S., the spike in omicron cases is significantly higher than the national average. The variant accounts for more than 88 percent of new infections in other areas of the Northeast and nearly 87 percent in the Texas region.

The delta variant had been dominant since June, and as recently as the end of November represented 99.5 percent of new cases.

Only about 33 percent of Americans have gotten their COVID-19 booster shots, which health officials say is the best defense against the omicron variant. About 62 percent of Americans are fully vaccinated but aren’t boosted, and health officials are worried about the nation’s ability to withstand a fifth wave of COVID-19.

For more information, go to the CDC data tracker.