Alert in the US for the next "viral storm" of covid-19 0:46
(CNN) -
Investigation of the virulence of the omicron variant of the coronavirus is still in the early stages, but what is very clear, according to experts, is that it is about to spread rapidly across the U.S. And probably It will overwhelm an already battered health care system and hospitals.
The variant is expected to become the "dominant strain" in the coming weeks, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Friday.
And after almost two years of a pandemic that has caused more than 800,000 deaths in the United States and hospitals overloaded, the omens are not favorable for the coming months, according to experts.
"Even if (omicron) is less virulent than previous strains, if we get to a point where we are seeing half a million cases a day or more, we are going to flood our hospitals, even with a relatively low hospitalization rate," he said. CNN medical analyst Jonathan Reiner, professor of medicine and surgery at the George Washington College of Medicine and Health Sciences.
"When you have that kind of denominator, our hospitals will be completely submerged like in some parts of the country," he said.
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Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, said it is too early to assume that omicron will cause milder disease.
"It's clear that omicron is an extremely contagious variant, doubling every two to four days," Collins told CNN's Anderson Cooper.
Collins said that people can limit the consequences of the variant with vaccines, especially boosters.
Two-week data from South African cases seemed to indicate that omicron was milder in severity.
The CDC said last week that it examined 43 cases and that most of those people had mild symptoms.
Most were vaccinated, with about a third of the total group boosted.
But UK epidemiologists said this week they found no evidence that omicron is causing milder disease there, although the team from Imperial College London also said there wasn't much data to go on yet.
"We don't really know yet, and there is some controversy, whether omicron causes the same type of severity of the disease or whether it is a somewhat milder form of the disease," Collins said.
With a more infectious variant, even if it's milder, it could still send more people to hospitals.
"The problem, of course, is whether this is so contagious, and we may see hundreds of thousands of cases every day, maybe even a million cases in an omicron day, even if it's a little less serious, have a lot of people in the hospital and our hospitals are already really spread out with delta, especially in the northern part of the country, "Collins said.
Overall, this Friday the US averaged 121,707 new cases of covid-19 each day, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University.
Fourteen states saw at least a 10% increase in cases in the past week compared to the prior week, the data shows.
Ómicron already impacts hospitals
US: hospitalization increases in five states 1:11
About 68,900 Americans are hospitalized with COVID-19, according to data from the US Department of Health and Human Services.More than 20% of all ICU beds in use are occupied by COVID-19 patients, the data shows.
California health officials said Friday they were seeing hospitalization numbers begin to rise, emphasizing the need for vaccines and booster shots.
In New York, officials said they are seeing the highest hospitalization rate they have recorded in months, and Gov. Kathy Hochul noted that staffing shortages will influence possible new restrictions.
This Thursday, New York State had the highest count of new cases in a single day with 21,027, according to data released this Friday.
Dr. Marc Gorelick, who runs Children's Minnesota Hospital, said the facility is already struggling to cope with the numbers.
"When you're on top of a surge where you're already at 90%, 95% capacity, those extra ... preventable COVID-19 patients coming in are what pushes the system over the edge. And that's what we're seeing here in Minnesota, "Gorelick told CNN's Kate Bolduan on Friday.
It got so bad that Minnesota hospital leaders ran a full-page ad in a newspaper this week to say they were overwhelmed by the pandemic.
"It feels like I'm drinking from a fire hose with no way to control that flow," Dr. John Hick, an emergency physician at Hennepin Healthcare in Minnesota, told reporters Tuesday.
"I've been practicing for 25 years in the emergency department, and every shift I'm working these days is like the worst shift in my career."
In Oregon, officials forecast a bleak start to 2022
"We can expect an increase in Oregon hospitalizations by mid-January, with infections starting earlier," said Dr. Peter Graven, a data scientist at Oregon Health and Science University.
"Combined with its high transmissibility, we expect omicron to generate a large increase in the number of Oregonians who will become seriously ill and will likely need a hospital."
Restrictions are rapidly returning in some states
California takes action again to curb the spread of omicron 2:17
The United States has fully vaccinated just over 61% of its total population, and about 29% received a booster dose, according to the latest CDC data.
And as the omicron situation spreads, some officials have moved to reinstate the restrictions.
In Maryland, Prince George's County public schools will switch to remote learning from December 20 to January 18 due to a "marked increase in COVID-19 cases throughout (their) school system," according to a statement from this Friday from the executive director of the school district, Monica Goldson.
The University of Maryland canceled its winter graduation ceremonies, noting that all social gatherings on campus where the wearing of masks could not be strictly enforced should follow suit.
Final exams will be taken in person, but students and faculty will need to wear a KN95-rated mask provided by the university, he said.
Michigan State University and Hofstra University in New York said Friday that students and staff should receive booster shots for the start of the spring semesters.
In Hawaii, a ceremony that was scheduled to celebrate the end of the state National Guard Joint Task Force on covid-19 was canceled, and the governor's office said the task force is being reestablished due to omicron.
CNN's Maggie Fox, Deidre McPhillips, Amy Simonson, Leslie Holland, Evan Simko-Bednarski, Laura Studley, Taylor Romine, Kristina Sgueglia, Artemis Moshtaghian and Andy Rose contributed to this report.
Omicron variant
