Director of Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, Michael Osterholm, has officially warned the U.S. of the dangerously high transmission rate of the Omicron variant of Covid-19. With the Delta variant still a big question and source of worry for lawmakers and health officials, Omicron is causing a bigger concern due to its high transmissibility.
“I think we’re really just about to experience a viral blizzard. I think in the next three to eight weeks, we’re going to see millions of Americans are going to be infected with this virus, and that will be overlaid on top of Delta, and we’re not yet sure exactly how that’s going to work out.” Osterholm told CNN about Covid-19‘s newest variant.
Omicron cannot be taken lightly at any cost, even with milder symptoms, if the transmissibility is as high as suspected, it could still affect a large number of immunocompromised people who are already vulnerable to it as it is.
Osterholm also added, “What you have here right now is a potential perfect storm. I’ve been very concerned about the fact that we could easily see a quarter or a third of our health care workers quickly becoming cases themselves.”
The Biden government has been rigorous about their measures to get people vaccinated against Covid-19 but there have been many barriers from Republicans to the Supreme Court blocking vaccine mandates that could get millions vaccinated, protecting them against the virus or against the worst symptoms to the very least.
After warnings of a “a very rough January” due to Omicron Covid-19 former senior pandemic adviser to President Joe Biden, Andy Slavitt said, “For the health care workers, the hospitals, for people who are sick, even sick with things other than Covid, that represents a real danger and a real threat.”
Signs of the early Covid-19 era have already been surfacing ever since the first installation in our trilogy of annual festivals Halloween-Thanksgiving-Christmas arrived. There is no other measure to take other than taking care of ourselves and each other, getting more people to get their vaccine shot, avoiding crowded places or masks in such places.
