Omicron overtakes delta as Miami’s dominant COVID-19 variant

MIAMI (AP) — Genomic surveillance data shows omicron has overtaken the delta variant in Miami-Dade County as the dominant strain of the coronavirus in just a matter of weeks. Genetic sequencing showed omicron grew from a tiny fraction of hundreds of samples taken the first week of December to nearly three of every four samples taken last week. Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava says it’s “absolutely astonishing” how contagious omicron is. About 76% of 504 COVID-19 samples taken Dec. 14-15 were the omicron variant. That compares to to 64% of 378 samples collected Dec. 10-13, and 1.3% of the 373 samples collected Dec. 1-5. The county’s positivity rate is at 10% after falling to 1% last month.