Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, announced on Friday that the Omicron variant is the most transmissible strain of the coronavirus recorded thus far. During a video conference for the American Chamber of Commerce, which was reported by U.S. media, Fauci stated that this is the most transmissible variant of COVID-19 that we have dealt with to date. He added that the doubling of Omicron cases takes just 3 days.
He indicated that Omicron is likely to become the dominant variant in the United States soon, but for now, the Delta variant remains the leading strain. He noted that the number of Delta infections has decreased after a surge recorded last summer and has started to increase in recent weeks, rising from between 60,000 and 70,000 daily cases to about 115,000 within 24 hours.
According to data from Johns Hopkins University, the number of COVID-19 infections in the United States has exceeded 50.4 million, with the death toll reaching approximately 803,000, of which 2.9 million infections and more than 34,000 deaths occurred in the last four weeks.
U.S. President Joe Biden warned on Thursday that the Omicron variant of the coronavirus "will start to spread much faster in the United States," urging citizens to get vaccinated against the virus, including booster shots, as winter will bring "severe illness and death" for the unvaccinated. Biden stated that "the only real protection is to get vaccinated," cautioning that winter will bring "severe illness and death" for those unvaccinated. He made these remarks at the end of a meeting dedicated to addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and summoned accredited journalists from the White House afterward to "deliver a direct message to the American people."
