Omicron data sparks worry — and promise Less than a month after its arrival, the Omicron variant is hurtling through the country with case numbers rising in more than half the states in the US. But there's hope yet. New studies released Wednesday in Britain suggest Omicron could be less harmful than the Delta variant. People infected with the new strain are less likely to be hospitalized, and South Africa's Omicron surge may have peaked after only a month. Its symptoms seem similar to earlier variants, too, though only 23 percent of Omicron patients in a Norwegian study reported a loss of taste.