Dr. Anthony Fauci warned Thursday that the newly discovered omicron variant will become the dominant strain in the U.S. “very soon.” He told Good Morning America, “It has an extraordinary ability to transmit efficiently and spread…Very soon it’s going to be the dominant variant.”
“We’ve seen that in South Africa, we’re seeing it in the U.K. and I’m absolutely certain that’s what we’re going to be seeing here relatively soon,” he added. Dr. Fauci is urging Americans to “absolutely” get vaccinated against COVID-19 and/or receive a booster if they are eligible.
Because of the new variant, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released its new projections for next month and predict that the U.S. could reach a total of 845,000 deaths by January 8. The CDC says current models suggest weekly death totals and hospital admissions will rise over the next four weeks.
At the present, the U.S. is recording 118,000 new COVID-19 cases per day, which is a rise by 45 percent since November. Hospital admissions stemming from COVID complications have also increased by 46 percent in the same time span.
More than 50.4 million Americans have tested positive for COVID-19 and the U.S.’s death toll currently stands at over 803,000 people — which is more than the entire population of North Dakota — reports Johns Hopkins University.
Source-ABC
