The Omicron variant of COVID-19 may not be as severe as it was thought, United States health officials said on Sunday while still highlighting its quick spread through the country. Early indications suggest it may not be as dangerous as the Delta variant, according to reports citing health officials.

Anthony Fauci, the principal advisor on the pandemic to United States President Joe Biden, told CNN that scientists need more information before drawing conclusions about omicron’s severity.

Moreover, the COVID-19 related hospitalisation rates in South Africa — where the variant was first detected last month– have not spiked in an alarming manner, reports suggest.

“Thus far, it does not look like there is a great degree of severity to it,” Fauci said in a statement, according to reports from Associated Press.

He added, “But we have really got to be careful before we make any determinations that it is less severe or it really doesn’t cause any severe illness, comparable to Delta.”

The key healthcare advisor further added that the White House is considering removing certain travel restrictions that were put in place after cases of the Omicron variant started popping up around the globe. These include travel blocks against non-citizens from several African countries.

“Hopefully we will be able to lift that ban in a quite reasonable period of time,” Fauci said. “We all feel very badly about the hardship that has been put on not only on South Africa but the other African countries.”

Omicron had been detected in about a third of American states by Sunday, including in the Northeast, the South, the Great Plains and the West Coast. Wisconsin and Missouri were among the latest states to confirm cases of the new COVID variant.

Two years into the outbreak, COVID-19 has killed over 780,000 Americans, and deaths are running at about 860 per day.