Nearly 60% of Americans have been infected with COVID, CDC says

A new report from the Centers for Disease Control revealed that more than half of Americans and about three out of four kids have been infected with COVID-19 after the highly contagious Omicron variant swept the country. 

"We're still getting cases, but they're not as severe," said Dr. Jim Keany from Providence Mission Hospital. "I think that has to do with immunity either that people have had it before or they've been vaccinated so we're just not seeing those big waves that we used to see."

Published on Tuesday, the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report showed that 58% of Americans were infected with COVID-19. In December, 34% of Americans had been infected with the virus. The news comes on the heels of Vice President Kamala Harris testing positive for COVID-19 Tuesday. 

"So far what we're seeing is that the hospitalizations have remained low," said Orange County Chief Medical Officer Dr. Regina Chinsio-Kwong. "

Kwong also said that the Orange County Health Care Agency will closely monitor the data and expects pockets of infections similar to the flu.

"We're getting used to COVID — what people would call 'endemic'," said Kwong. "It's part of the landscape now and it's just a new normal." 

Despite being in the "endemic", Kwong fears an emergence variant that may cause more severe illness. 

"If we do have a variant that spaces all immunity that we have built," said Kwong. "Whether it's from vaccination or natural immunity or it escapes all the treatments we've created against this virus then we're in trouble."