US: Florida struggling amid 948% spike in COVID cases as Omicron continues to wreak havoc

As the highly transmissible Omicron variant pushes a massive wave of infections and hospitalizations across the United States, COVID-19 cases in Florida state have risen by 948% in just two weeks, The Guardian reported. Despite Dr Anthony Fauci's, the country's top infectious disease expert, warning that the public should look at hospitalizations rather than infections to determine the severity of Omicron, the seven-day average for US patients hospitalised with COVID-19 jumped by more than 40% in the last week of December. According to the local and state officials in Florida, people now have to wait for hours in long queues just to get themselves tested. 

Meanwhile, some have also criticised the state's health department, as well as Governor Ron DeSantis for being non-responsive to the crisis. "It’s every man/woman for themselves because leadership is MIA," state senator Shevrin Jones wrote on Twitter. According to the report, only 62% of the population in the United States is completely vaccinated, with rates particularly low in the south and in mountain states. Booster doses are available for people aged 16 and above, but only about a third of fully vaccinated have chosen to take one, despite Dr Fauci's assertion that the extra dose provides "optimal" protection against the new variant. 

Meanwhile, in Washington DC, Congress is witnessing an unprecedented surge in COVID-19 cases, with the seven-day positivity rate at a congressional test site jumping to 13% from 1% in late November, according to the Capitol's attending physician. Based on a limited sample as of December 15, most Coronavirus infections on Capitol Hill have occurred among the vaccinated, with the Omicron variant accounting for roughly 61% and the Delta variant for 38%, Dr Brian Monahan told lawmakers in a letter, as per The Guardian. As many as 820,000 people have their lives in the US due to COVID-19. It has also thrown lives and livelihoods into turmoil, as well as disrupted education, the report stated.  

COVID cases in US to rise dramatically in coming weeks: Health experts

It is pertinent to mention here that last week, health experts in the country have warned that cases will be rising dramatically over the next three to four weeks. Speaking to MSNBC news channel, Dr Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota, stated that the US is going to witness a tremendous increase in the number of cases in the coming weeks. "We will have a hard time keeping things running in our daily lives. The coming month will be a viral blizzard. This will put a strain on the entire society," he added. 

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