The U.S. has now topped 800,000 deaths from the coronavirus and to recognize the somber milestone Tuesday, a small bipartisan group of U.S. House and Senate members held candles on the Capitol steps.

Nearly 1,300 Americans are dying every day in the latest COVID-19 surge according to New York Times data. The World Health Organization now says the new omicron variant spreads faster than anything before it.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also met Tuesday to discuss the exceptional speed of infection from omicron.

Infectious disease specialists in Central Florida are now telling families to keep their guards up. In the most recent data released by the Florida Department of Health, the state has a COVID-19 new case positivity rate of 2.6%, which is a slight increase from 2.5% the week before.

Infectious disease specialist Dr. Syed Ahmed said the omicron variant it is spreading at a much faster rate than the delta variant did when it first arrived in the U.S. 

“Especially with the holiday season coming, there is a possibility that our health system will get over run,” Ahmed said. “It’s possible.”

That is why Ahmed said, depending on where you are and how many people you are with, that masking up is once again being recommended. His fear is that this new strain of the virus could spread like a wild fire.

Early data shows that the omicron variant is not causing severe illness or fatalities. But Ahmed said the Pfizer vaccine is only about 23% effective in preventing someone from getting the omicron variant. 

“Of the cases that occurred from December first to the eighth, 79% of the cases were actually vaccinated,” Ahmed said.

According to Ahmed’s data, 60% of omicron patients from the first week of December were between the ages of 18 to 39. He is hopeful that more and more people will continue to get their coronavirus booster shots, and that those who are unvaccinated will reconsider to prevent a surge of the virus in the new year.

Ahmed said he feels that by January, as a result of large holiday gatherings and holiday travel, Central Florida could see a surge.

More than 1.5 million passengers traveled through Orlando during the Thanksgiving holiday season from November 19-29 according to the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also urges anyone who is eligible to get a COVID-19 booster shot. Out of the 200 million fully vaccinated Americans, only about 25% have received their booster shot to date.