As Omicron cases rise, New York health officials have reported an uptick in children being admitted to hospitals, while the White House committed on Sunday to fix the country’s Covid-19 test shortage as soon as possible.
Of a statement released Friday, the New York State Department of Health warned of “an increased trend in pediatric hospitalizations connected with Covid-19.”
It found “four-fold increases in Covid-19 hospital admissions for minors 18 and under commencing the week of December 5 through the current week” in New York City, according to the report.
Approximately half of the admissions are children under the age of five, who are not eligible for vaccines, according to the department.
According to data from Johns Hopkins University, the number of Covid-19 cases in the United States is increasing, with an average of approximately 190,000 new infections each day over the last seven days.
The debut of the new Omicron variety, combined with holiday celebrations that often include travel and family reunions, has resulted in a rush on tests in the United States, where getting one is difficult in many places.
On Sunday, top US pandemic expert Anthony Fauci admitted a “testing difficulty” with Covid and promised that further tests will be accessible to Americans next month.
“One of the problems is that that’s not going to be totally available to everyone until we get to January and there are still some issues now of people having trouble getting tested,” Fauci said.
“But we’re addressing the testing problem,” he added, saying it should be corrected “very soon.”
On Tuesday, President Joe Biden announced a raft of new measures as the United States battles its latest Covid surge, including shipping half a billion free home tests in the wake of the Christmastime testing crunch.
However, the White House, whose strategy has for weeks been mainly focused on vaccinations, has faced strong criticism over the fact that many tests won’t be available until January.
Fauci on Sunday emphasized that the administration was ramping up to tackle the spike and stressed that Omicron was “extraordinarily contagious.”
Apart from overwhelming hospitals and Covid testing sites, the Covid variant has forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights in the United States, as crews called in sick or had to quarantine after exposure to the virus.
Recent studies in South Africa and Britain indicate that Omicron was less likely to lead to hospitalization than the previous strains of the virus and that the duration of hospital stays and oxygen needs for patients were lower, Fauci noted.
But he also warned that Omicron’s apparent lower severity is likely to be neutralized by how fast it is spreading.
“The issue that we don’t want to get complacent about… is that when you have such a high volume of new infections, it might override a real diminution in severity,” Fauci said.
Ojelabi, the publisher of Freelanews, is an award winning and professionally trained mass communicator, who writes ruthlessly about pop culture, religion, politics and entertainment.
