© 2025 KUNR
Illustration of rolling hills with occasional trees and a radio tower.
Serving Northern Nevada and the Eastern Sierra
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
The threat of catastrophic funding cuts for public media looms, and while we don’t know what the U.S. Senate will do, we do know this: We need your help protecting this vital service.
Learn what you can do to support KUNR and public media today ➡️

Omicron is declining in South Africa. Here's what to expect in the United States

A researcher at the Africa Health Research Institute in Durban, South Africa, works on the omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus on Dec. 15, 2021. (Jerome Delay/AP)
A researcher at the Africa Health Research Institute in Durban, South Africa, works on the omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus on Dec. 15, 2021. (Jerome Delay/AP)

The omicron-fueled surge of coronavirus cases in the United States continues unabated. The daily average is now more than 405,000 cases, and hospitalization rates are up 35% in just two weeks.

But across the world in South Africa, the opposite is happening. A month after omicron was first identified, cases have dropped by more than a third with many restrictions lifted, including travel and curfews.

So why are the cases dropping there and can we expect the same in the U.S.?

Here & Now‘s Scott Tong talks to Mia Malan, editor-in-chief at South Africa’s Bhekisisa Centre for Health Journalism.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.