Omicron Already Makes Up 2.9% Of Texas COVID-19 Cases: CDC

Austin TX

15 December, 2021

12:10 PM

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AUSTIN, TX — While a few cases have been detected in Texas' metro areas, the omicron coronavirus variant is not as prevalent in the Lone Star State compared to most states, at this time. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials estimated the highly contagious variant now represents 2.9 percent of COVID-19 cases in Texas as of Wednesday. 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, said Tuesday on the "Today Show" that increasingly it appears the omicron variant causes less severe cases. She 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. The CDC estimate was released a day after two omicron variant cases were detected in San Antonio and three "very, strongly likely" cases were detected at the University of Texas at Austin. Last week, the first detected case of the omicron variant was found in Houston. RELATED: 3 COVID-19 Cases At UT Austin: 'Very Strongly Linked' To Omicron The delta variant remains much more prevalent across the country, but cases involving the omicron variant have been trending upward nationwide in recent weeks, officials said. On Tuesday, Texas reported 3,498 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 91 deaths, according to data provided by theTexas Department of State Health Services. At this time, there are 3,204 COVID-19 inpatients at hospitals statewide. Of those, 2,153 are in general beds, 984 are in ICU and 67 children are being hospitalized. About 361 patients were admitted into the hospital with COVID-19 and 588 are currently on ventilators, the data reports. Omicron cases have been detected in 33 states, which Walensky said indicates that it is quickly becoming the predominant strain as more cases emerge.