NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – The omicron variant is so widespread now, just about everybody knows somebody that has COVID-19 these days. Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham said Thursday afternoon, that the state needs to brace itself for the coming weeks.
“We’re in a situation where we have six weeks before we’re going to see any kind of stabilization or declines,” said Gov. Lujan Grisham.
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The state is reporting a few thousand cases a day lately, and a new high of more than 5,000 cases on Thursday but that’s just what they know about. Just north of New Mexico, in La Plata and Archuleta counties, the Colorado School of Public Health estimates 10% to 20% of the people are infected with the virus, much higher than the number of confirmed cases.
Before omicron arrived, the CDC estimated three out of four COVID cases were going unreported. Now, with a higher transmission rate, mild or no symptoms, and the popularity of at-home testing, the number of unreported cases is likely much higher than the confirmed cases. The CDC has yet to come out with updated estimates on unconfirmed cases from this recent surge.
Another sign of just how contagious this is, the World Health Organization is predicting that within two months, half of Europe will have caught the omicron variant.