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Omicron : Here are 5 Symptoms —Mild As They Look, Don’t Underestimate This Variant-Experts
December 16, 2021
January 5, 2022
White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci on Wednesday said a growing body of data indicates that the Covid omicron variant is less severe than the delta strain, but cautioned that hospitals could still face stress through the unprecedented number of new infections sweeping across the U.S.
“Multiple sources of now preliminary data indicate a decreased severity with Omicron,” Fauci told the public during a Covid update from the White House response team. “However, we really do need a more definitive assessment of severity with longer-term follow up here and in different countries.”
“It was shown that the virus of omicron proliferates very well in the upper airway and bronchi, but actually very poorly in the lungs,” Fauci said. While this does not definitively prove omicron is more mild, it is consistent with the variant transmitting very quickly but causing less severe lung infections,” he said.
Fauci said the omicron variant also appears less severe for children when compared with delta. However, he cautioned that hospitalizations are rising among kids, mostly the unvaccinated, because omicron is so contagious. He urged parents of children ages 5 to 17 make sure their kids are immunized against Covid.
The U.S. reported more than 869,000 new Covid infections on Tuesday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The nation is reporting a seven-day average of more than 553,000 new infections every day, more than double the previous week and a pandemic record, according to a CNBC analysis of data from Johns Hopkins.
“A certain proportion of a large volume of cases no matter what are going to be severe,” Fauci said. “So don’t take this as a signal that we can pull back from the recommendations.”
About 110,000 Americans are hospitalized with Covid, according to a seven-day average of data from the Department of Health and Human Services as of Wednesday, up 39% over the past week. Though rising sharply, that figure is still below peak levels seen during last winter’s surge, when hospitalizations topped 137,000 in early January 2021.
Fauci cautioned against complacency, urging the public to follow public health guidance by getting vaccinated, boosted and wearing a mask.
