Fauci warns about the danger of a hospitalization surge because of many COVID patients.
Anthony Fauci, a top American infectious disease expert, said that there was still the danger of increased hospitalizations due to coronavirus cases.
However, early data suggest that the Omicron COVID-19 variant of the virus is less severe.
Fauci stated that the only problem is having so many patients, even though Omicron’s hospitalization rate is lower than Delta.
But there is still the risk that you might increase hospitalizations that could stress the healthcare system.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, the Omicron variant represented 58.6% (or 59.6%) of all coronavirus variants circulating within the United States as of Dec. 25, 2012.
Omicron’s sudden arrival has caused record-breaking case counts in countries all over the globe and dampened New Year celebrations in the world.
Fauci stated that Omicron might be less severe than we think, based on data from South Africa and the U.K. and preliminary data from the United States.
Fauci said that the CDC would soon clarify whether COVID-19 patients should be tested negative to be released from isolation. This clarification follows confusion last week regarding guidance that allowed people to leave after five days of no symptoms.
The CDC has reduced the recommended isolation time for people with asymptomatic COVID from 10 to 5.
However, experts are apprehensive about the policy, which does not require testing to determine if a person is infected before they return to work or socialize.
“You’re right. Some people have expressed concern that we don’t ask them to be tested for five days. Fauci said that Fauci is currently considering in an interview with ABC News on Sunday.
“I believe we’ll be hearing more about it in the next day or two from the CDC.”
According to a Reuters count, on Saturday, the U.S. authorities recorded at least 346.869 new coronaviruses. At least 377 Americans died from COVID-19, compared to 828 562.