CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Health officials at the University of Virginia say they expect a potential post-holiday surge of COVID-19 cases in central Virginia.

Costi Sifri is head of epidemiology at the UVa Medical Center. He told The Daily Progress in Charlottesville that he anticipates a steep rise in cases from the omicron variant.

The variant is driving a surge in cases across the country. And it appears to be even more contagious than the delta strain.

Sifri added that the region is still in the middle of a delta surge. It started in the fall and peaked in September.

The cases started to decrease in early November. But after Thanksgiving, health officials started to see increases.