Highly contagious variants of the omicron have cleared delta strains across the U.S., but the supposed rise of milder forms of Covid-19 has so far done little to ease the burden on hospitals.
Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Tuesday that omicron variants account for about 98 percent of cases. The figure is based on data for the week ending Jan. 8 and represents a significant increase from two weeks ago, when omicron accounted for 71.3% of cases.
Omicron’s high infectivity combined with immunity built up by some people against the delta through vaccination and exposure makes conditions favorable for the “milder” variant, said David Wall, a professor at North’s Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases. Chapel Hill, Carolina. But experts warn that contracting any variant of Covid-19 is a major problem for those who remain unvaccinated or have other health problems. Without intervention, the data portends dark days for the health care system, they say, which has stretched to its limits.
In many parts of the U.S., the health care system is “collapsed under the weight of Covid patients,” said Neil Sehgal, a professor at the University of Maryland School of Public Health. “I’m starting to wonder if this is a week of collapse for the healthcare system.”
The latest CDC Nowcast data predicts that omicron will dominate the number of cases in every region of the country. While early-hit areas like New York City appear to have peaked in infections, most cities continue to surpass previous records and hospitalizations are soaring.
Complete News Source : NDTV
