US coronavirus: Omicron variant will ‘find just about everybody,’ Fauci says,
“Omicron, with its extraordinary, unprecedented degree of efficiency of transmissibility, will ultimately find just about everybody,” Dr. Anthony Fauci told J. Stephen Morrison, senior vice president of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “Those who have been vaccinated … and boosted would get exposed. Some, maybe a lot of them, will get infected but will very likely, with some exceptions, do reasonably well in the sense of not having hospitalization and death.”
In contrast, those who are not vaccinated are “going to get the brunt of the severe aspect of this,” he added.
Fauci’s comments came in response to a question about whether the pandemic has entered a new phase. That will come when there’s enough protection in the community and drugs to easily treat severe Covid-19, he said, adding, “We may be on the threshold of that right now.”
Also Tuesday, US Food and Drug Administration acting commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock said that while most people could catch the virus, the focus now should be on making sure hospitals and essential services function.
Woodcock was responding to a question from Sen. Mike Braun about whether it’s time for the United States to change its Covid-19 strategy. Her statement was not a new assessment of Covid-19, but rather an attempt to make clear the need to prioritize essential services as the Omicron variant surges.
“I think it’s hard to process what’s actually happening right now, which is: Most people are going to get Covid,” Woodcock said Tuesday at a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing. “And what we need to do is make sure the hospitals can still function, transportation, you know, other essential services are not disrupted while this happens.”
On Tuesday, the number of US patients hospitalized with Covid-19 hit a record high, adding strain to health care networks and pushing states toward emergency staffing and other measures as they struggle to cope.
The United States averaged more than 754,200 new Covid-19 cases daily over the past week, according to Johns Hopkins University data. That’s about three times last winter’s peak average (251,987 on January 11, 2021), and 4.5 times the peak from the Delta-driven surge (166,347 on September 1), according to JHU.
The country has averaged 1,646 Covid-19 deaths a day over the past week — 33% higher than a week ago, according to JHU. The peak average was 3,402 daily on January 13, 2021, JHU data shows.
Leaders activate new measures to combat surging numbers
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