The Omicron variant could soon run out of steam in the U.S., with many experts predicting cases will reach their peak within the coming we...
The Omicron variant could soon run out of steam in the U.S., with many experts predicting cases will reach their peak within the coming weeks. A combination of high infection and vaccination rates mean the strain could soon run out of people to infect, and cases could quickly start declining soon.
The U.S. is currently averaging 750,515 new cases every day, the second highest daily average recorded in the pandemic so far - only trailing the figure recorded Tuesday of 767,200. While it is a long way from the 264,546 cases being average two weeks ago at the end of January, case growth is already starting to slow day to day.
One of the reasons cases may soon decline is the fact that the variant could eventually run out of people to infect. Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Disease and the country's top infectious disease expert, said Tuesday the variant will eventually infect almost everyone in America.
'Omicron, with its extraordinary, unprecedented degree of efficiency of transmissibility, will ultimately find just about everybody,' Fauci said
'Those who have been vaccinated ... and boosted would get exposed. Some, maybe a lot of them, will get infected but will very likely, with some exceptions, do reasonably well in the sense of not having hospitalization and death.'
Fauci, along with many other health officials are still recommending all Americans to get vaccinated and boosted if they have not already. While around 1,700 Americans are still dying from the virus every day, almost all deaths are among unvaccinated people, and the shots are highly effective at mitigating any complications even after infection. With how quickly the variant is spreading, and how many people are getting infected in such a short period of time, many are hopeful that Omicron will run out of people to infect in the coming weeks.
A promising sign is coming out of Boston, Massachusetts. The state is among those currently dealing with the worst of the surge, but wastewater data is showing a recent sharp decline in the amount of Covid in the local population.
Wastewater can be tested to find what level of an overall population is dealing with Covid. Traces of the virus are found in a person's urine and stool, and sewage centers can test massive samples to see prevalence of Covid in the population.
Earlier this year, prevalence of Covid in Boston wastewater began to surge, up to 10,000 RNA copies of the virus per milliliter sampled - more than triple previous levels. The figure has quickly declined to 6,000 copies per milliliter, a 40 percent drop in virus prevalence.
'But this suggests good news for the disruption caused by the sheer numbers of infections. Will likely take a few days to show up in case counts, which if they follow will show a peak around now. Just like there was a peak this time last year. Past is prologue,' Bill Hanage, an associate professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, wrote in a tweet.
The most promising sign for the U.S. is the current situation in England. Once the global hotspot for the variant, cases in the UK are down 45 percent over the past week, with around 120,000 people testing positive every day. While deaths and hospitalizations have risen in recent days, neither figure has managed to keep up with infections at all recently.
Covid cases in the U.S. have surged in recent weeks, up by 185% over the past two weeks. Some experts believe the rapid surge in cases will lead to the variant running out of steam soon and reaching its peak before receding
Wastewater data from Boston, in Covid-struck Massachusetts, shows that Covid prevalence in sewage has dropped 40% this week after surging to record levels to start the year
What happens in the UK often precedes the U.S. by a few weeks, and the current decline in cases across the pond matches predictions by American health officials that the virus will likely recede in the coming weeks.
South Africa, where the variant was first detected in late November, has seen cases plummet in recent weeks after a massive surge to end 2021. After peaking at over 23,000 cases in mid-December, the nation is only recording 7,000 cases per day at the moment, showing another quick decline in cases after a rapid rise.
Dr Ali Mokdad, also of the University of Washington, told the Associated Press this week that he also believes the same will occur, and that cases could even start rapidly declining soon.
'It's going to come down as fast as it went up,' Mokdad, who teaches health metrics at the school, said.
Dr Pavitra Roychoudhury is a bioinformatics expert at the University of Washington in Seattle. She told DailyMail.com that more tests than ever are coming back positive at the moment, and while it is overwhelming, the recent surge should peak soon.
'My understanding is that eventually there'll be enough people will infected that there'll be some sort of some sort of immunity that will be established,' she said.
'That will result in those case numbers plateauing, and then starting to turn down again... It can't come soon enough.'
On Tuesday, former chief of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) predicted that up to 40 percent of Americans will eventually become infected during the surge. He also believes around ten percent of the population is actively infected at any given moment.
When a person gets infected they, at least temporarily, have some protection from re-infection. As the pool of people available for the virus to infect quickly shrinks, the virus will slowly begin to lose steam and recede. Many people have also been jabbed, with 63 percent of Americans fully vaccinated and 23 percent having received a booster, giving even more people protection from the variant.
'Because you'll have lots of people who've had a natural infection, or [are] protected via vaccination, and they just have not been infected yet and are protected from that. Combined, those two things will hopefully allow [the surge] to hit that peak and then start turning down and gradually reduce,' she told the DailyMail.com.
Roychoudhury agrees with Mokdad and others that signs from overseas show that the surge could rapidly decline after it reaches its peak.
For now, though, the surge continues across the U.S. Cases are up 185 percent over the past two weeks. Hospitalizations are reaching record levels as well, with 140,641 people in the hospital with Covid every day. That figure also includes people who go to a hospital for a non-Covid reason and test positive while there - though. This means the figure is likely inflated by non-virus illnesses and injuries.
In Virginia, a state of emergency has been declared by the Governor in an effort to combat capacity shortages during a surge in cases. Under the order, hospitals will be allowed to expand capacity and some regulations on staffing roles will be lifted.
The state has suffered a 153 percent increase in cases over the past two weeks, with 200 of every 100,000 residents testing positive every day - both figures putting the state towards the middle of the pack. Virginia is also suffering 0.16 deaths per every 100,000 residents every day, the third lowest rate of any U.S. state.
New Jersey has been one of the hardest struck states by the Omicron-fueled Covid surge tearing through America. The state has the fourth highest infection rate in America, with 350 of every 100,000 residents testing positive for the virus daily. Only four states are logging more than 300 cases per every 100,000 residents daily.
A public health emergency has been instituted in the state to combat rising cases. The orders from Gov Phil Murphy include increased vaccine rollout and testing efforts. Mask mandates will also be reinstated in some parts of the state.
Cases in the state have doubled over the past two weeks, though the week-to-week growth of cases has contracted in recent weeks. Many officials believe the current surge is nearing its peak, and New Jersey could be an example of the Omicron variant burning out.
Neighboring New York, also an early hot spot of the Omicron variant, is seeing its weekly growth of cases contract as well. The state is still among the leaders in infection rate, with 378 of every 100,000 residents testing positive for the virus every day. Cases have doubled over the past two weeks, though the week-to-week change has shrunk since the surge first began.
The nation's leader in infection rate in Rhode Island, which has by far ran away from the rest of the pack in recent day. The state, where 77 percent of residents are fully vaccinated, is recording 507 positive cases every day for every 100,000 residents - a 226 percent increase over the past two weeks. No other state has more than 400 new cases every day per every 100,000 residents.
Massachusetts is the fourth and final state with an infection rate of over 300 per every 100,000 residents, at 359. All four states leading the nation have fully vaccinated more than 70 percent of their residents, and each are among the top 20 states in death rate by population.
While Kentucky is not experiencing surges to the level of many other states, the Bluegrass state's government is taking drastic action to stop the spread of the virus as well.
Gov Andy Beshear activated the National Guard this week, sending 445 members to hospitals and health care facilities in the state to assist with a recent uptick in cases. Over the past two weeks, cases in the state have jumped 240 percent with 188 of every 100,000 residents recording infections every day.
Some of Kentucky's neighbors in the south are experiencing some of the worst case surges in the nation at the moment. South Carolina remains the nation's leader in case growth over the past two weeks, up 842 percent over that period. No other state has recorded an increase of more than 700 percent during that time.
Other nearby states suffering massive case increases include Arkansas (455 percent increase over past two weeks), Alabama (392 percent), Oklahoma (376 percent), North Carolina (328 percent), Mississippi (301 percent).
Many states out west have quickly creeped up as leaders in case increases over the past two weeks. The 673 percent increase in cases suffered by Alaska over the past two weeks is the second highest rate in the country. Utah (554 percent increase), Oregon (538 percent) and Montana (520 percent) are also among the five states that have suffered case increases of 500 percent or more.
Along the west coast, California, the nation's most populous state, suffered a 401 percent increase in case over the past two weeks.
The number of states recording more than one death per every 100,000 residents has shrunk to four, even as cases spike nationwide - another sign that the Omicron variant is not as dangerous, even if it does cause record case numbers.
Indiana remains the leader in mortality rate, with 1.38 of every 100,000 residents dying from Covid every day.
Delaware comes in second, with a mortality rate of 1.28 of every 100,000. Pennsylvania (1.04) and New Mexico (1.01) make up the remaining group.
Michigan, once the leader by far in Covid deaths per capita, has finally seen its figure per every 100,000 residents shrink below 1.0 once more - falling to a 0.96 average as of Wednesday. It is a hopeful sign that the surge that hammered the Great Lakes state for months now is finally receding.
Dr Pavitra Roychoudhury (pictured) is a bioinformatics expert at the University of Washington. She says Omicron is spreading at such a rapid rate that it will likely reach its peak in the coming weeks, before cases start declining
Across the pond, the situation in the UK is getting better by the day. Wednesday marks the sixth straight day where daily cases have declined in the once-Covid ravaged nation. While deaths have increased week-over-week, some are attributing the low figures last week to data reporting lags caused by the holidays.
'In general, now, the countries we know best in the northern hemisphere have varying stages of the pandemic,' David Heyman, an epidemiologist from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said.
'And probably, in the UK, it's the closest to any country of being out of the pandemic if it isn't already out of the pandemic and having the disease as endemic as the other four coronaviruses.'
He notes that between a successful campaign to rollout Covid booster shots, and the amount of Britons that have already been infected, enough people already have immunity against the new strain that its spread can be controlled. And even those that do get infected will not suffer severe cases due to their body's increased ability to combat the variant.
'That means immunity against serious illness and death after infection if one is vaccinated, or after re-infection if one has had illness before, and that population immunity seems to be keeping the virus and its variants at bay, not causing serious illness or death in countries where population immunity is high,' he said.
'I looked at the ONS (Office for National Statistics) most recent report on population immunity and they estimated about 95 percent of the population in England and a little less than in other parts of the United Kingdom do have antibody to infection either from vaccination or from natural infection.
'And that antibody, as I said, is keeping the virus at bay. And it's now functioning more like an endemic coronavirus than one that is a pandemic.'
Cases are trending downwards almost everywhere in England, and London - once the worst struck city in the world by Omicron - is no longer among the national leaders in new daily cases.
Deaths have remained at bay as well, not nearly rising to the same extent as cases during the recent surge. The nation is currently averaging 120,821 cases and 379 deaths per day. While hospitalizations have climbed, the figures are inflated by people coming in for other issues and testing positive while they are there - just like what is happening in the U.S. Nearly a third of Covid occupied beds in England are filled by people who came in for treatment for a different reason.
As cases decline, health officials are also discussing the possibility of reducing the nation's quarantine period for positive tests down to five days, from seven, following a move made by the CDC in America in recent weeks.
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