While there has been a decline in COVID-19 cases in the U.S. since the omicron variant surge over the winter holiday season, the seven-day moving average of cases jumped up approximately 5% as of Wednesday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Case increases have been reported in New York City, Washington D.C., Los Angeles County, Illinois and Oregon as the highly contagious omicron BA.2 variant becomes the dominant type of SARS CoV-2 in the country.
“I think without a doubt that we are going to see a turnaround as people get out more and into the inside venues without masks,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden said Friday in an interview with NPR. “That's going to be certainly resulting in infections, even in people who are vaccinated.”
He said that there is likely going to be an uptick in cases due to the omicron BA.2 variant.
During a press conference Friday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki also fielded questions about whether the White House is preparing the public for Biden to get COVID-19.
“We believe we have the tools and protocol to address this point we are in the virus,” she said. “But like anyone else, the President may at some point test positive for COVID.”
As of last November – before the first omicron variant identified caused a surge of COVID-19 cases around the world – 40% of the global population had already experienced COVID at least once, according to a study published this week in the Lancet journal.
“COVID-19 has already had a staggering impact on the world up to the beginning of the omicron (B.1.1.529) wave,” said the study.
According to the World Health Organization, the BA.2 variant is “inherently more transmissible,” than other omicron variants. In Shanghai, China, the variant has caused a surge and subsequent lockdown for the city’s approximately 26 million residents. A record number of new cases were reported in Shanghai Saturday, Reuters reported.
Although the BA.2 variant is more transmissible, vaccination is still expected to prevent severe illness and death for those who become infected. As of Wednesday, around 66% of the U.S. population was fully vaccinated and more than 77% had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Booster shots are also available, as well as additional boosters for people who are at least 50 years old or who are immunocompromised.
At the same time that the seven-day moving average increased in the U.S., hospitalizations dropped by 10.3% and deaths decreased by 22.1%.
Fauci said the U.S. pattern could follow the U.K., based on past surges. He said they are “having a significant upsurge,” in cases.
“We are hoping that if that does happen, the degree of background immunity that we have in the country ... [means] we will not see an increase in severity in the sense of a concomitant increase significantly in the number of hospitalizations,” he added.
To prevent infection, Fauci encouraged people to wear masks indoors if their area has had a surge in cases, as the CDC also recommends.
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