COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths will likely reach record levels in the weeks to come because of Omicron variant. NIAID director Anthony Fauci told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday that this will happen.

In total, 89 countries have been identified as having the variant, and specialists are predicting a major winter rise as a result of the variant’s high transmissibility and capacity to elude immune protection.

When asked by host Jake Tapper whether the United States is likely to record a high number of infections, hospitalizations, and deaths, Fauci answered, “Unfortunately, Jake, I think that that is going to happen.”

“We are going to see a significant stress in some regions of the country on the hospital system, particularly in those areas where you have a low level of vaccination,” he added.

“This virus is extraordinary. It has a doubling time of anywhere from two to three days,” adding that the variant is “going to take over.”

“It is going to be a tough few weeks to months, as we get deeper into the winter.”

Fauci also spoke on MSNBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, when he talked about the variant’s “extraordinary ability to spread” and how Omicron is “raging” around the world.

He cautioned against relying on statistics from South Africa, where people have “so much experience with prior infections that it might be underlying immunity that’s making it look like it’s less severe,” to draw conclusions about the severity of Omicron cases.

“As a virus, it inherently may not be less severe,” he warned.

“We have so many people in this country who are eligible to be vaccinated who have not yet been vaccinated. And that’s going to be a real problem for stress on the hospital system” Fauci added of the coming situation in the U.S.

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