Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Omicron is on the rise — and so is demand for testing

Omicron is on the rise — and so is demand for testing


Omicron is now the dominant variant in the United States, making up 73 percent of all new cases in the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Data from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard show that Omicron is the most dominant strain in Massachusetts, too.

“We are in the Omicron wave,” Bronwyn MacInnis, director of pathogen genomic surveillance at the Broad, told reporters Felice Freyer and Kay Lazar. “It is circulating widely in Massachusetts and appears to be continuing to amplify.”

Explore these five charts to see just how rapidly the variant is spreading.

As the holidays near and Omicron continues to circulate rapidly, residents are scrambling to get tested for the virus, seeking answers when confronted with COVID-19 symptoms or an additional layer of security ahead of gathering with loved ones. I checked out the line at Tufts Medical Center in Boston on Friday and found nearly 100 people seeking tests and vaccinations, while some people waited as long as four hours to get tested at Logan International Airport. 

If you're looking to get tested yourself, my colleague Diti Kohli breaks down where and how to get a COVID-19 test and why it's been so difficult to get your hands on one. And if you live in Boston, you're eligible for free tests. Here's where to pick some up
 

 


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