As the Omicron variant takes over as the dominant strain of COVID, both New South Wales and New York have seen a rapid surge in daily case numbers. Just a few weeks ago, New York State was recording less than 5,000 cases a day, comparatively less than other US states. But, since December, the state has reached record case numbers reaching 20,439 on 20 December and with a 7-day average of 869 cases per million people.
NSW has similarly seen record-breaking numbers, with the state announcing its highest number yet on 22 December with 3,763 and with a 7-day average of 320 cases per million people per day.
December 2021 COVID-19 case numbers: NSW v NY
![December 2021 COVID-19 case numbers: NSW v NY](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/ooh1fq7e/production/5d05db6b8d791bb3c5344a3ad44dab56e431e812-900x509.png/covid-rates-dec.png?w=320&h=181&auto=format)