Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has shared that the recent spike in omicron-related COVID-19 cases nationwide could fall just as fast as cases shot up.
During a media briefing on Friday, Walensky said the projection for how the next few weeks of the pandemic could play out indicated a sharper spike than what has been seen with previous variants.
New COVID-19 cases have continued to rise and fall since the pandemic began but have best been described as "waves." However, when it comes to omicron, the doctor thinks that the recent surge in the U.S. could be an "ice pick," with a steeper drop-off than other surges the nation has seen.
Some of the reasoning behind Walensky's prediction comes from what South Africa, the first nation to experience a surge, witnessed.
"I do think in places that we are seeing this really steep incline, that we may well see also a precipitous decline," Walensky said during the briefing.
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Walensky also talked about the recent jump in hospitalizations, specifically among children, after the CDC released new data on the topic.
The data showed that 4.3 per 100,000 children under the age of 5 were admitted to a hospital with COVID-19, as of the week of Jan. 1, according to Walensky.
"While children still have the lowest rate of hospitalization of any group, pediatric hospitalizations are at the highest rate compared to any prior point in the pandemic," Walensky said.
According to NBC News data, there have been a record number of hospitalizations due to COVID-19 in pediatric patients.
However, Walensky thought this could be explained.
"This very well may be that there are just more cases out there," the director said.
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