The holiday season is underway, just as the nation grapples with an alarming surge of COVID-19 cases. In New York state, reports of new cases shot up 80 percent in two weeks. Washington, D.C. is in the same boat. More than three times as many infections have been reported each day since the start of December. Federal officials say these new cases are being driven by the omicron variant, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say accounted for 73 percent of new infections last week. Omicron was first reported in South Africa less than a month ago. How are Americans planning holiday gatherings at this point in the pandemic? And what is the outlook for the new year?Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Find us on Twitter @1A.