“We are definitely in the middle of a very serious rise and upward trend in cases,” Fauci told ABC television on Sunday. The fact that the curve of new infections shoots up so steeply is “really unprecedented”. On Friday, more than 440,000 new infections were reported within 24 hours in the United States. That was almost exactly 200,000 more than at the height of the pandemic last February.
Fauci emphasized that developments in South Africa give cause for hope. The Omikron variant was first detected there at the end of November. Shortly before New Year’s Eve, the South African government announced that the peak of the new Corona wave triggered by Omikron had already been passed.
Fewer deaths and fewer hospitalizations
Fauci pointed out that the hospitalization and death rates in the United States had been significantly lower in the past few weeks than in previous corona waves. With a view to the start of classes in US schools scheduled for Monday after the Christmas vacation, President Joe Biden’s advisor called on parents to have their children vaccinated against corona, test them if necessary and send them to class with a mask.
Under these conditions, the risks from Corona are lower than “the harmful effect” if they are not allowed to attend classroom lessons, said Fauci.
Source: Nachrichten
