Now it's a viral "blizzard" next up will be a viral "hurricane" then earthquake, volcano, nuclear blast........ etc.
(CNN) — The coronavirus will hit millions of Americans in a “viral blizzard” within a few weeks as infections from the Omicron variant pile on top of Delta, an expert predicts.
Already, hospitalizations are rising as the holiday season gets into full swing. Long lines for Covid-19 testing formed Thursday in metro areas, including New York, Boston and Miami.
The Delta variant remains a problem. And Omicron, with its high transmissibility, could strike millions more soon, said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.
“We’re really just about to experience a viral blizzard,” Osterholm told CNN’s Erin Burnett on Thursday. “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.”
Omicron will cause a serious strain on the health care system as more workers will likely get sick, Osterholm said, even though most cases from Omicron seem to be mild.
“What you have here right now is a potential perfect storm,” Osterholm said. “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.”
Other signs include:
- New Orleans says it will require kids ages 5 to 11 be vaccinated before entering public schools, restaurants and other businesses.
- Colleges and universities are returning to online learning.
- Sports leagues are postponing games due to players testing positive.
- Broadway shows are canceling performances.
Andy Slavitt, a former senior pandemic adviser to President Joe Biden, said that while tools such as vaccines are now available rather than during last winter’s surge, “a very rough January” lies ahead due to Omicron.
“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,” Slavitt told CNN’s Don Lemon on Thursday.
Two indicators are up about 40 percent in the last month, according to data from Johns Hopkins University: the seven-day average of new cases topped 120,000; and the total number of hospitalizations stands at more than 68,000.
The seven-day average for deaths was 1,286 as of Thursday, an 8% increase from a month ago, the data show.
Getting vaccinated or boosted remains key as millions of Americans get ready for holiday travel.
Recent lab studies of blood taken from vaccinated people and exposed to Omicron showed the variant can evade some protection offered by two doses of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine, but a booster dose restores much of that immunity, researchers reported Wednesday. The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has shown similar results.
On Thursday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed its recommendations for Covid-19 vaccines to make clear that shots made by Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech are preferred over Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine.
The daily rate of vaccinations is up around 22% from a month prior, according to CDC data, with more than half being booster doses. At the current pace, it will take more than two months for at least half of adults to get a Covid-19 booster, according to a CNN analysis of CDC data.
Biden said Thursday that vaccinations and boosters are essential to keeping businesses and holiday gatherings safe.
“For the unvaccinated, we are looking at a winter of severe illness and death,” he said. “But there’s good news if you’re vaccinated and you have your booster shot, you’re protected from severe illness and death.”
Time to call the medicine man...........
Oh, I do hope it's serious.......
ReplyDeletePokahantis also has access to Ivermecton and other drugs . Fuck her with biden's dick.
ReplyDeleteIt's the Jabbed that are going to be kicking over and the CDC has already predicted 15 thousand motherfuckers are going to start dying Per Month over the next three months. They tried to claim it's going to be the UnJabbed too but the statistics aren't going to lie.
ReplyDeleteFor the last 21 months I have been doing just fine with my VFNI (Vaccine Free Natural Immunity) and simply ignoring the panic porn and diktats. I enter places with mask requirements glaring at people while maskless and it works like a charm. Living FREE & FEARLESS... more people oughta try it.
ReplyDeleteIt has been working for me also.
DeleteMeanwhile, Cornell University is one of the schools that went to on line finals and canceled commencement and they are 95% fully vaccinated including students, staff and professors! The four people that we know of who died of COVID in our rural area were all fully vaccinated!
ReplyDeleteCornell University is one of the schools that have gone to on line semester finals. They are 95% fully vaccinated including students, faculty, and staff and they are having a high positive rate! From what I have heard the four COVID fatalities in our rural area were all fully vaccinated!
ReplyDeleteThe boys who cried, "Wolf", are getting the backblast, as the Eminent Mr Surber notes.
ReplyDeleteIt is becoming clear to me that the government has been sending out only positive test kits.
ReplyDeleteGENIUS.
But what are they using to test with? The old test kits were proven useless and even the FDA recalled them as being worthless. Does the new Xi variant have a test that is unique to it? How does anyone know what is reporting positive about what?
DeleteThe only thing that is positive about this whole Xi flu thing is that the American People are being lied to on a scale never before seen outside of totalitarian state and even compared to those, FJB is doing a job that makes Stalin look like a choir boy and Goebels look like a saint.
I'm partial to Covid Classic.
ReplyDeletestop testing people who have no symptoms.
ReplyDeleteAsk yourself this question: Why are 80+% of the hospitalized Kung Flu patients jabbed and boosted? Nemo
ReplyDeleteMemphis closed its emergency "vaccination" sites last week due to lack of victims. I think they have reach max vaxx status with the general population and will now have to rely on boosters to continue the money flow to big pharma.
ReplyDeleteYou can't take anyone seriously if they worry about Broadway shows closing. Good gawd what a limp wristed fruitcake. Kudos to whomever observed 'The most educated are the dumbest people I've ever seen.'
ReplyDeleteTwice this last week for a brief second I landed on CBS evening news opening doom porn about omicron, it is over the top without ever saying it is a mild version. One with the weekday gal and one yesterday with a different gal. I started laughing and thought about those snowflakes who actually watch network news.
ReplyDeleteI'd put a $10 on she is lying.
ReplyDeleteFor the first time I wish it wasn't BS and that it really was fatal.
ReplyDeleteIt must have been passed to her by that evil Elon Musk.
ReplyDeleteI saw a meme elsewhere this AM that had picture of Liawatha with the caption stating that Trump passed Omicron to her via infected blankets.
ReplyDeleteNemo