The omicron surge has peaked and appears to be on a double-black-diamond downslope. Three major metro Denver counties dropped mask mandates in early February. Statewide hospitalizations from this omicron-driven coronavirus wave peaked at 1,676 in mid-January and stood at 1,012 as of Feb. 8, a number the Colorado COVID-19 Modeling Group expects to fall to below 500 by the end of February.

There are still more questions than answers about the newest variant of COVID-19, omicron. UCHealth experts explain what omicron is and what you can do to stay safe. Photo by Joel Blocker, for UCHealth. Omicron, the new COVID-19 variant, is here.