As the 'extraordinarily infectious' Omicron variant spreads, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases head Dr. Anthony Fauci expects coronavirus cases in the United States will continue to grow.
"Well, there's one thing that's for sure that we all agree upon, that it is extraordinarily contagious," Fauci said during an appearance Sunday on ABC News' "This Week." "It's just outstripped even the most contagious of the previous ones, including Delta. There's no argument on anybody's part about that."
Fauci, who also serves as President Joe Biden's chief medical advisor, said that keeping people out of hospitals was one of the administration's key goals.
"The one that would be immediate is to make sure, given the rapid spread of this extraordinary variant, that we don't get an overrun on hospitals, particularly in those regions in which you have a larger proportion of unvaccinated individuals," he added.
Fauci: COVID-19 Cases Will Continue to Rise Due to Omicron
According to a previous Science Times report, the new variant appears to be more transmissible than prior variants of the novel coronavirus. However, research suggests it causes a milder infection than other forms of the disease. Experts have stated that the variation should be treated seriously.
The United States had recorded at least 51 million total cases before the holiday weekend interrupted COVID-19 trackers. The Omicron variant, which took over as the dominant strain a week ago, is driving the uptick.
While the strain is highly contagious, studies obtained by CNBC show that it is less severe in terms of hospitalizations. However, Fauci cautioned that this was not the time to become complacent.
According to Dr. Fauci (via The New York Times), the low vaccination rate in the United States - just 62 percent of Americans are completely vaccinated - would likely negate the advantages of Omicron's lower virulence.
Unvaccinated People to Suffer More From COVID-19
Scientists from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland found last week that patients infected with Omicron were about 60% less likely than those infected with Delta to be hospitalized. Another study from Imperial College London mentioned that those infected with Omicron were 15 to 20% less likely to travel to the ER with severe symptoms and 40% less likely to be hospitalized.
However, two years into the pandemic, the nation's medical infrastructure is dangerously stressed as hospitals deal with staff shortages worsened by burnout and early retirements. Experts are particularly concerned about an upcoming wave of Omicron infections, which might put many nurses and physicians out of work.
Despite an alarming increase in cases in the US - the seven-day average of new daily cases has topped 197,000, a 65 percent increase in the previous 14 days - official data show that vaccination remains a powerful protection against serious disease. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, unvaccinated persons are five times more likely to test positive for COVID-19 and 14 times more likely to die from it than vaccinated ones.
RELATED ARTICLE: COVID-19 Signs and Symptoms: Scientists Find 'Scratchy Throat' a Common Sign of Omicron Variant
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