Federal officials say early Omicron data suggests a less fatal wave
WASHINGTON – Senior federal health officials stressed Wednesday that data on exploding coronavirus cases in the United States and from other countries reinforced early signs that the highly contagious variant of Omicron was milder and less fatal than previous variants, despite the fact that it was already there threatened to overwhelm health systems on the verge of previous surges.
Her comments at a White House news conference reflected the government's growing urgency to reassure Americans worried about another winter of isolation as it seeks to respond to worsening outbreaks across the country.
Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said hospital admissions and deaths remained "comparatively low" as cases rose about 60 percent to about 240,000 a day in the past week, a less fatal wave of the Virus.
She pointed to a seven-day average of 9,000 hospital admissions per day, an increase of about 14 percent from the previous week. The seven-day average of daily deaths is about 1,100 per day, she added, a decrease of about 7 percent.
"This could be due to the fact that hospital admissions typically lag around two weeks behind cases," she said, "but also because of early signs of milder illness we saw from other countries like South Africa and the UK from Omicron, before." especially among the vaccinated and vaccinated. "
Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, Senior Medical Advisor to President Biden, said at the same news conference that "The pattern and inequality between cases and hospitalizations strongly suggest that the hospital-to-case ratio will be lower as the situation clears. ”
A report this week from a hospital in South Africa said Dr. Fauci, showed significantly fewer patients who needed supplemental oxygen, fewer intensive care units, and fewer deaths. A study in the UK that looked at patients by December 19 showed a much lower risk of hospitalization with Omicron compared to those infected with the Delta variant, data backing up a separate Scottish study, he said .
The more hopeful data on the spread of Omicron have been tempered by a plethora of virus cases in hospitals across the country, where burned health care workers have yelled for help as most unvaccinated patients flood emergency rooms and intensive care units.
Jeffrey D. Zients, the White House's Covid-19 response coordinator, said 13,000 National Guard members in 48 states helped with vaccinations, tests and clinical work. The federal government has sent ambulances to states in need, he added, including New York, where dozens of Federal Emergency Management Agency employees are helping the effort. Reinforcements have arrived in Arizona, Wisconsin, and Indiana, or are on the way, Mr. Zients said.
More state-run test sites would open in the coming days, Mr. Zients said, including in Philadelphia and Washington, DC in the United States. The demand for testing has skyrocketed this month, causing manufacturers to scramble to produce and distribute more of it.
The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved a home test run by Siemens Healthineers as part of a new accelerated screening program, the Ministry of Health said. And the Department of Defense placed a $ 136.7 million contract with MilliporeSigma, a key ingredient for rapid testing. The deal enables a Wisconsin factory to "support more than 83.3 million tests per month," according to the department.
Mr Zients said a contract that would allow the government to provide 500 million rapid tests for free would be finalized by the end of next week. The manufacturers' deliveries should start in January.
Dr. Fauci said the extent of the mild infection suggested the United States might need to move on to a comfortable life with some controlled spread of the virus. “This is a highly transmittable virus. We know that from the numbers we see, ”he said. "Every single person across the country now sees the high degree of transferability around them."
He said it was safe for vaccinated people to gather in small groups with family and friends over the New Year's weekend, but Americans should be careful about having traditional indoor parties.
"If you are planning to go to a New Year's Eve party with 40 or 50 people where all the frills and all are hugging and kissing and wishing each other a happy new year, I would strongly recommend that you not do this this year," he said.
However, he said that public health policies must gradually reflect more social and financial concerns.
“It becomes much more relevant how severe the impact on society is. We'll never stop counting tests, ”he said. "But we are pleased, as I think everyone is appropriate, that we ultimately, if we have to quote, 'live' with something that will not be eradicated and very likely not to be eliminated, but" may actually be at such a low level of control , namely a control that does not disturb society, does not disturb the economy. "
The C.D.C. on Monday nodded to the idea as it cut the recommended isolation time in half for many infected Americans, even if they weren't tested, a move criticized as premature by some scientists and public health experts. Dr. Walensky said in an interview with The Times Tuesday that rapid tests were not effective enough in diagnosing contagiousness in humans.
"You don't necessarily do a test if you don't know what to do with the result," she said. "The expected number of cases we saw required that we take action right now."
Dr. Walensky continued to defend the new recommendations on Wednesday, saying at the White House press conference that "the vast majority" of transmission of the virus occurred two days before symptoms and two to three days after. "Any of those remaining little transmissions after that would be blocked by masking," she said. "We stand on the shoulders of two years of science, two years of understanding transferability."