Are children the new victims of the pandemic?
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(CNN Spanish) -
The new year began with a massive influx of covid-19 cases, unlike any other time in this pandemic, according to doctors.
It is the omicron variant, which is more contagious, can cause more severe disease for the unvaccinated and weaken the health care system, experts say.
Even healthcare workers are being sidelined, experts say, during the rapid rise of the omicron variant, the most contagious strain of the new coronavirus to hit the United States.
And compared to previous variants, omicron put America's healthcare system in a very different place than the country previously was, according to Esther Choo, a professor of emergency medicine.
These are some facts about the omicron variant.
Minute by minute: all the news about the coronavirus and the new omicron variant
This is the progress of the omicron variant in the world 4:57
More than 73% of covid cases are from omicron in the United States
The omicron variant of coronavirus is now the most dominant in the United States.
By the third week of December 2021 it accounted for more than 73.2% of new coronavirus cases, less than three weeks after the first case was reported, according to estimates released Monday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Diseases of the USA, CDC.
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The delta variant represents the other 26.6% of cases.
According to the CDC, anyone with omicron "can transmit the virus to other people, even if they are vaccinated or have no symptoms," it says on its website.
Early studies suggest that the omicron variant may cause less severe illness than the Delta variant, which still accounts for a sizable portion of Covid-19 cases in the US.
But because omicron is so much more contagious, the gross number of COVID-19 hospitalizations could worsen, said Dr. Anthony Fauci.
An important - and dangerous - way in which the omicron increase is different from previous increases in the US.
This is how Latin America prepares to fight omicron 4:53
20% of the healthcare workforce is being affected
Because the omicron variant is more contagious, hospitals are collapsing as winter progresses.
"What's coming up for the rest of the country could be very serious. And they need to be prepared," said Dr. James Phillips, chief of disaster medicine at George Washington University Hospital.
Even healthcare workers are being sidelined during the rapid rise of the omicron variant, the most contagious strain of the new coronavirus to hit the US.
"Our healthcare system is in a very different place than we were in previous waves," said Dr. Esther Choo, professor of emergency medicine.
"This strain is so contagious that I think we all know many, many colleagues who are currently infected or have symptoms and are in quarantine," said Choo, associate professor at Oregon Health and Science University.
"We have lost at least 20% of our healthcare workforce, probably more," he added.
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Children's hospitalizations due to covid increase by 66%
Just as millions of students prepare to return to school, new pediatric hospitalizations for COVID-19 hit a record high.
During the week ending Dec. 28, an average of 378 children were admitted to hospitals every day with COVID-19, according to CDC data.
That's a 66% jump from the previous week.
It also breaks the previous record of 342 set during the rise of the delta variant at the beginning of the school year.
With the more communicable omicron variant, some schools may want to postpone learning in person, said pediatrician Dr. Peter Hotez.
"It may be the case in some school districts, where things are so furious right now in omicron terms for the next two weeks, and it may be wise to delay things a couple more weeks," said Hotez, dean of the School. National Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
"It's going to be a very challenging time," Hotez said.
"People will have to be patient."
The milestones of the covid-19 two years after the start of the pandemic 0:50
Thousands of school districts will resume online learning
School districts across the country differ in their plans to return after the holidays this week as the number of omicron cases continues to rise.
While there is a widespread intention to have an in-person apprenticeship, some districts have closed or switched online in part due to staff shortages.
Others are delaying the return to allow for evidence collection.
Most open without incident.
More than 2,100 schools across the country have switched to remote learning or have delayed their return, according to data company Burbio, which adds closure information based on school calendars and other sources.
In Georgia, at least five large Atlanta-area school districts will begin classes remotely this week.
Additionally, the omicron variant could be more problematic for young children, said Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a former commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration.
"It appears now, based on a large amount of experimental evidence that we have obtained in the last two weeks, that this is a milder form of the coronavirus," Gottlieb told CBS on "Face the Nation" on Sunday.
"It appears to be more of an upper respiratory disease than a lower respiratory disease. That is good for most Americans. The only group that can be a problem for very young children (young children) who have problems with upper respiratory infections, "said Gottlieb, a current Pfizer board member.
"This new strain may have a predilection, again, for the upper respiratory tract, which could be more of a challenge in young children, due to the way it binds to cells in the respiratory tract."
The immunity generated by Moderna and Pfizer's covid-19 vaccines decreases with omicron, according to study
Ómicron not only affects health centers, but also transportation
But the latest variant of the coronavirus doesn't just reduce the number of healthcare personnel.
As the virus spreads through American communities, personnel problems already disrupt parts of daily life.
Plagued with staffing problems, the New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced last week that several subway lines were suspended.
In Ohio, the mayor of Cincinnati declared a state of emergency due to staff shortages at the city's fire department following an increase in covid-19 infections, saying in the statement that if the problem is not resolved , "would substantially undermine" first responders.
And amid a busy Christmas season, thousands of flights have been canceled or delayed because staff and crew say they are sick.
"We are seeing an increase in patients again, unprecedented in this pandemic," warned Dr. James Phillips, chief of disaster medicine at George Washington University Hospital on Saturday.
"What is coming for the rest of the country could be very serious and they need to be prepared."
17 times more danger for the unvaccinated
Unvaccinated people "are 17 times more likely" to be hospitalized with COVID-19, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said last Wednesday.
About 62% of the total US population is fully vaccinated, and 33% of them have received a booster shot, CDC data shows.
In fact, the number of lives the virus is claiming increased this week by roughly 18%, with an average of 1,546 deaths per day, according to the data.
And more than 44,000 people could die from Covid-19 in the next four weeks, according to a joint CDC forecast released last week.
Covid-19micron