“NATURAL DISASTER”: MOST AMERICANS WILL GET COVID-19: US HEALTH OFFICIALS

Thu 13 January 2022:

According to federal health officials in the United States, the Omicron COVID-19 form is so contagious that it will infect the majority of the country, and the pandemic has been compared to a “natural disaster.”

Authorities are optimistic that the surge will subside quickly, even as Omicron continues to set new records for new cases, and that the US should focus on ensuring that healthcare systems do not collapse as a result of the surge.

Officials in the United States are comparing the ultra-transmissible omicron coronavirus variation to a natural disaster, as the country continues to set records, with over 1.4 million new COVID-19 cases reported on Monday and more than 140,000 hospitalizations.

“I think that we’re talking about a natural disaster,” Janet Woodcock, acting commissioner of the Food Drug Administration, said in a Senate Health Committee hearing Tuesday. “I think right now, we need to focus on continuity of operations for hospitals and other essential services as this variant sweeps through the population.”

Officials are now preparing for the coming weeks, which are expected to bring even more cases, putting pressure on health-care systems and other critical services across the country.

The Omicron variant, which contains numerous key mutations, has spread rapidly around the world, shattering records for new cases reported every day in the United States.

The variant is now responsible for more than 98 percent of COVID-19 cases in the United States, according to the CDC, having replaced Delta in less than a month.

At the same time, the strain is thought to be less dangerous than previous strains, and there is some evidence that it will peak soon.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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