Anthony Fauci said authorities are stepping up to respond.
Washington:
Top US pandemic adviser Anthony Fauci on Sunday acknowledged Covid’s “testing problem” as the Omicron strain overwhelmed the nation, and he vowed to make more testing available to Americans next month.
“One of the problems is that it won’t be fully available to everyone until we go into January, and there are still some issues that make it difficult for people to take the test. “, Fauci told ABC talk show “This Week.”
“But we are working on the testing issue,” he added, adding that it will be fixed “very soon”.
Covid cases have skyrocketed across the US in recent weeks as the highly infectious variant of Omicron became the dominant strain, overwhelming hospitals and Covid testing sites as Americans rushed to get tested to go on vacation.
Authorities have averaged more than 175,000 new cases daily in the recent period, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Omicron has been forced to cancel hundreds of flights in the United States as crews become ill or quarantined after exposure to the virus, and airlines scramble to rebook frustrated passengers who have hope to spend Christmas with their family.
Fauci said authorities are stepping up to respond.
“The majority component of the president’s response is to make sure that we have enough redundancy for hospitals with military personnel, doctors, nurses and other health care providers, to make sure that have enough PPE (personal protective equipment) and if needed, have enough ventilators in the national strategic stockpile,” he said.
The White House adviser also stressed that Omicron is “very contagious.”
At the same time, Fauci noted that recent studies in South Africa and the UK indicate that Omicrons are less likely to lead to hospital admissions than earlier strains of the virus, and that the length of hospital stay and oxygen requirement for the patient. lower multiplier.
But Fauci also warned that Omicron’s apparent lower severity is likely to be neutralized by the speed at which it spreads.
“The problem we don’t want to be complacent… is when you have such a large number of new infections, it can reduce the real severity,” Fauci said.
On Tuesday, the White House announced its new Covid response plan, which includes additional aid to hospitals and increased vaccinations and testing, but no new restrictions ahead of the year-end holiday.
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