COVID-19 cases are anticipated to continue to rise as the omicron variant spreads swiftly throughout the world, U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday.
Fauci, a former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, stated that keeping patients out of hospitals was one of the Biden administration's main priorities.
"Infections continue to rise daily, with the last weekly average around 150,000 and likely to become much higher," Fauci warned on ABC's "This Week."
According to Fauci, data from the United Kingdom indicated that the Omicron variation had a lower hospitalization-to-case ratio than other strains of the COVID-19 virus. Additionally, the expert stated that both the length of stay in the hospital and the requirement for oxygen were "reduced" among patients.
The quick growth of Omicron in South Africa concerns researchers the most, since it shows the variant could trigger explosive rises in COVID-19 cases elsewhere.
The U.S. had reported more than 51 million total cases as of Thursday, before the holiday weekend disrupted COVID trackers, health authorities disclosed. Moreover, the U.S. surpassed 800,000 total disease-related deaths in mid-December.
As of December 22, the CDC reported that the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases detected in the U.S. was more than 176,000. A week earlier, on December 15, the seven-day average was slightly more than 121,000, the CDC data said.
A month earlier, on November 22, the seven-day average of new cases was slightly more than 93,000.
The new coronavirus strain looks to be more contagious than prior forms of the novel coronavirus, however data suggests it creates a milder infection than other variants of the disease, according to public-health specialists. Nonetheless, specialists have stated that the variant should be regarded seriously.
With so many new infections, Fauci warned people not to get "complacent" about the virus. Unvaccinated people, he said, are still a major worry.
Meanwhile, in an interview with conservative media personality Candace Owens on Tuesday, former President Donald Trump repeated his support for the COVID-19 immunizations.
Owens said, at one point, that more individuals have perished from the disease "under Joe Biden than you, and more people got the vaccine this year."
"Yes, the COVID vaccines are effective, but some people aren't taking them," Trump retorted.
Those who do not get the vaccine and are sent to the hospital, according to Trump, are the ones who become very ill and must be hospitalized. But, according to the former president, it is still their option, and if they take the vaccine, they will be protected.
