Explainer: What’s happening with omicron in Long Beach

Explainer: What’s happening with omicron in Long Beach

How serious is omicron when compared to delta and other variants? It’s very serious, according to UC Irvine epidemiologist [and associate professor of public health], Andrew Noymer. “It’s very transmissible,” said Noymer—far more so than any of the previous COVID-19 variants that became dominant. Noymer said that, so far, omicron is out-competing delta, the current dominant COVID-19 variant, at a faster rate than delta out-competed the earlier alpha variant. “That’s extremely concerning,” he said.