one in five are covid-19 patients. >> i'm worried that the surge in the coming weeks will be worse than what we saw last winter. >> reporter: meanwhile, south africa has passed the peak of its omicron outbreak. >> there is some evidence that in south africa, where a lot of this started, that it's dropping off. >> reporter: health officials stress the antiviral pills are not a substitute for getting vaccinated. >> let's be clear. unvaccinated people are at a hi higher risk of getting severely ill from covid, getting hospitalized, and dying. >> reporter: and underscoring just how rapidly omicron is spreading, new york saying that it has broken its own record again for the fifth time in less than a week with the highest daily total of covid-19 cases. cases up 24% from the previous record, wolf. >> amara walker reporting for