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Contagion, increase in cases and hospitalizations: what has changed with Ômicron

January 3, 2022
7:24 PM

The new year started with a greater flow of cases of Covid-19, unlike any other time in this pandemic.

All on account of the variant Omicron, which is more contagious and can cause more serious illnesses for the unvaccinated and weaken the health care system, experts say.

Now, even health professionals are being pushed aside [quarentenados] during the rapid rise of the Ômicron variant, which hit the United States quickly.

And compared to previous variants, Ômicron has placed America’s health care system on a very different level than the country previously was, according to Esther Choo, a professor at Oregon Health and Science University.

Here’s what you need to know about Ômicron.

More than 73% of cases in the United States are caused by Ômicron

The Ômicron variant of the coronavirus is now the most dominant in U.S.

In the third week of December 2021, it accounted for more than 73.2% of new coronavirus cases, less than three weeks after the first case was reported, according to estimates released Monday (3) by the Control Centers and US Disease Prevention (CDC).

A Delta variant represents the other 26.6% of cases.

According to the CDC, anyone with Ômicron “can transmit the virus to other people, even if they are vaccinated or have no symptoms,” says the agency.

Early studies suggest that the Ômicron variant may cause less severe illness than the Delta variant, which still accounts for a sizable portion of Covid-19 cases in the US.

But because Ômicron is so much more contagious, the raw number of hospitalizations for Covid-19 could get worse, said expert Anthony Fauci.

20% of health professionals are infected

As the Ômicron strain is more contagious, hospitals are collapsing as winter in the northern hemisphere advances.

“What is happening in the rest of the country could be very serious. And they need to be prepared,” said James Phillips, chief of medicine at George Washington University Hospital.

Even healthcare professionals are being quarantined due to the rapid rise of Ômicron in the United States.

“Our healthcare system is in a very different place than we were in the previous waves,” said Choo.

“This strain is so contagious that I think we all know a lot of colleagues who are infected or have symptoms and are quarantined,” says Choo.

“We’ve lost at least 20% of our health workforce, probably more,” he added.

Children’s hospitalizations grew 66%

As millions of students prepare to go back to school, new pediatric hospitalizations by Covid-19 have hit a record.

During the week ending December 28, an average of 378 children were admitted to hospitals every day with coronavirus, according to CDC data.

This represents a 66% increase over the previous week. It also breaks the previous record of 342 set during the ascent of the Delta variant at the start of the school year.

With the Ômicron variant spreading rapidly, some schools may defer learning in person, Peter Hotez, professor at the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor University of Medicine in Houston, said.

“It may be the case in some school districts, where things are so strong right now, in terms of Ômicron, and it will continue for the next two weeks. It might be wise to delay things a few more weeks,” said Hotez.

“It’s going to be a very challenging time,” says Hotez. “People will have to be patient.”

Thousands of districts will resume online teaching

US school districts differ in their plans to return to activities after vacation this week as the number of Ômicron cases continues to rise.

While there is a widespread intention to have face-to-face learning, some districts have closed or moved online in part due to lack of staff.

Others are delaying their return to wait for more evidence.

More than 2,100 schools across the country have switched to remote learning or delayed their return, according to data company Burbio, which adds closing information based on school calendars and other sources.

In Georgia, at least five major Atlanta-area school districts will begin classes remotely this week.

In addition, the Ômicron variant may be more problematic for children, said Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the US regulatory agency (FDA).

“It now appears, based on a great deal of experimental evidence we’ve gotten over the past two weeks, that this is a milder form of the coronavirus,” Gottlieb told CBS in “Face the Nation” on Sunday (2).

“It seems to be more of an upper respiratory disease than a lower respiratory disease. That’s fine with most Americans. The only group that could be a problem are children, who have problems with upper respiratory infections,” said Gottlieb, a current board member at Pfizer.

“This new strain may have a predilection, again, for the upper respiratory tract, which could be a greater challenge in young children because of the way it attaches to the cells of the respiratory tract.”

Ômicron not only affects health centers, but also transport

Ômicron does not just reduce the number of healthcare professionals. As the virus spreads through American communities, personal problems already affect parts of daily life.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) of the city of Nova York announced last week that several subway lines were suspended.

In Ohio, the mayor of Cincinnati declared a state of emergency due to a shortage of people in the city’s fire department after a spike in Covid-19 infections, saying in the statement that if the problem is not resolved, it would “substantially harm” citizens.

And in the midst of a busy season of Natal, thousands of flights have been canceled or delayed because staff and crew said they are sick.

“We are seeing an unprecedented increase in patients again in this pandemic,” warned James Phillips of the University of Washington. “What is to come for the rest of the country could be very serious and they need to be prepared.”