No intention of imposing new shutdowns: White House amid Omicron surge

The Biden Administration has clarified that it has no intention of imposing new shutdowns amid a surge in Omicron variant across the US.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that President Joe Biden will "issue a stark warning and make clear unvaccinated individuals will continue to drive hospitalizations and deaths" in his COVID-19 address on Tuesday.

"This is not a speech about locking the country down," Psaki said. "This is a speech outlining and being direct and clear with the American people about the benefits of being vaccinated, the steps we're going to take to increase access and to increase testing, and the risks posed to unvaccinated individuals."

The highly transmissible Omicron variant was first detected in the U.S. on December 2 and has since spread to 47 states.

A wave of the variant has already hit New York and New Jersey, where it accounted for approximately 13 per cent of cases last week.