'Enormous spread of omicron' may bring 140M new COVID infections to US in the next two months, model predicts

'Enormous spread of omicron' may bring 140M new COVID infections to US in the next two months, model predicts Outside the US, IHME models show the world may see approximately 3 billion new infections in the next two months, with a peak of 35 million per day. Adrianna Rodriguez USA TODAY

As the omicron variant continues to spread throughout the world, new modeling data shows the latest strain may cause millions more new infections per day in the U.S. but fewer hospitalizations and deaths compared to the delta variant.

Researchers at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington’s School of Medicine revised its COVID-19 modeling to include updated information about the omicron variant.

They found the U.S. may see a total of about 140 million new infections from Jan. 1 to March 1, 2022, peaking in late-January at about 2.8 million new daily infections.

“We are expecting an enormous surge in infections ... so, an enormous spread of omicron,” IHME director Dr. Chris Murray said Wednesday. “Total infections in the U.S. we forecast are going from about 40% of the U.S. having been infected so far, to having in the next 2 to 3 months, 60% of the U.S. getting infected with omicron.”

While meta-analyses have suggested previous variants cause about 40% of cases to be asymptomatic, Murray said more than 90% of people infected with omicron may never show symptoms.

Researchers estimate that out of the millions of projected new daily infections, only about 400,000 cases may be reported, as most Americans infected with the virus won’t feel sick and may never get tested. At the peak of last year’s winter surge in January, the country was reporting a little over 250,000 new cases per day. ...