Omicron.

It's a word you've heard a lot this week. On Thursday, St. Luke's talked about the variant and what it means for you and your family.

Doctors say there's still a lot that's unknown, but they do know that COVID-19 is going to continue to look for ways to spread.

"We expect this virus to continue to mutate," said Dr. Sky Blue with Sawtooth Epidemiology & Infectious Diseases. "Every new case will allow the virus to try out some new mutations. That is going to be expected."

Doctors don't know if omicron will make you sicker than other variants. They say it's important to remain cautious and take steps to avoid getting sick.

"We have reason for optimism, we're a lot further ahead than we were a year ago, we have much more testing available, there's testing in urgent care, at doctors' offices and pharmacies, and then all the health systems of course have testing available and a lot of it is turned around in a day, and then, of course, some of them, the antigen tests, you can get the results immediately," said Dr. Laura McGeorge, St. Luke's medical director.

Idaho's COVID hospitalizations are dropping but demand for bed space and hospital services remain high.

Administrators are working through a backlog of elective surgeries, colonoscopies and cancer screenings.