Top health expert warns against complacency as Omicron strains US hospitals

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Top US infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci has warned against complacency about the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, saying the sheer number of cases could strain hospitals despite signs of lower severity, Reuters reports.

Hospitalisations of Covid patients have risen 45 per cent in the past seven days and stand at over 111,000, a figure not seen since January 2021.

"[Omicron] could still stress our hospital system because a certain proportion of a large volume of cases, no matter what, are going to be severe," Fauci told reporters at a White House briefing.

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Medical staff treat a coronavirus patient in their isolation room in the intensive care unit at Western Reserve Hospital in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, US, January 5. — Reuters
Medical staff treat a coronavirus patient in their isolation room in the intensive care unit at Western Reserve Hospital in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, US, January 5. — Reuters

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