Omicron variant of COVID-19 has tightened its grip in the United States over the past week and is now the dominant strain in the country. Pockets of COVID outbreaks are being reported across the country as the holiday season approaches. Multiple public areas have announced closures while major events are being called off.

What is happening across the United States as Omicron spreads?

-‘Hamilton’ and ‘Aladdin’, two of Broadway’s biggest musicals, are shuttering their doors during the busy Christmas week after finding breakthrough COVID-19 cases in their companies.

Also Read: Want to safely enjoy the holidays amid Omicron concerns? Experts offer tips

–Louisiana is starting to see growing numbers of COVID-19 cases months after emerging from a fourth surge of the coronavirus outbreak, with the state at risk of another spike as the omicron variant spreads.

-Rural Kansas hospitals are struggling to transfer patients as COVID-19 numbers surge, with some patients left stranded in emergency rooms for a week while they wait for a bed.

-Additional Ohio hospitals are announcing the postponement of elective surgeries as COVID-19 cases continue to fill up hospital beds in the state.

-Kansas: A Missouri health official says the delta variant still accounts for 98% to 99% of the roughly 600 samples that are sequenced each week.

-The New Year’s Eve party planned for downtown Los Angeles’ Grand Park will not have an in-person audience due to the recent increase in COVID-19 cases in LA County, organisers said.

Also Read: US surpasses 800,000 COVID deaths, highest national toll from the pandemic

-Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announced Monday that he has tested positive for the coronavirus, but is feeling fine at the moment. “As the Omicron variant becomes dominant, I want to urge you to get vaccinated or get your booster shot as soon as possible,” Hogan tweeted.

Omicron — first detected in South Africa– now accounts for 73% of new infections last week in the country, officials from the United Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Monday.