Amid rising concerns over the new Covid variant and surging Covid-19 cases in the United States, President Joe Biden on Monday said that people do not need to panic and that America is prepared for the latest surge. Biden also stressed that hospitals in some places could be overrun both in terms of equipment and staff. The US President made these remarks during a virtual meeting held by the White House with several state governors and top health advisors. Earlier on Sunday, the White House also promised to quickly resolve the Covid-19 test shortage that the US is facing. Top US pandemic advisor Anthony Fauci also acknowledged that there was a Covid 'testing problem' and said that the issue will be resolved by next month.
Key Points:
1. The US President said that Omicron is a source of concern, but it should not be a source of panic. He also mentioned that testing is more widely available and also emphasized that mass vaccinations will prevent many people from getting a serious illness from the Covid infections.
2. "Because there have been so many vaccinations and boosters, we're not seeing hospitalizations rising as much as they did previously. Americans, America have made progress. Things are better," said Joe Biden.
3. However, the US is witnessing a rise in hospitalizations as the cases are rising and the country still has tens of millions of unvaccinated people, said Biden.
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4. Talking about healthcare facilities, Biden said: "hospitals in some places that are going to be overrun both in terms of equipment and staff." "Seeing how tough it was for some folks to get a test this weekend shows that we have more work to do," he added.
5. The US administration has acknowledged the testing problem and has also said that it will be resolved starting next month. Biden also said that the administration has more work to do.
6. US has increased the number of free testing sites and the administration is pushing for more home testing kits, said Biden. He also highlighted how US had brands for testing kits initially and now that market has eight brands for the same.
7. Earlier on Sunday, top US pandemic advisor Anthony Fauci also said that the administration was ramping up to tackle the threats imposed by the rising Covid cases.
8. He also noted that studies indicated that the Omicron Covid variant is less likely to lead to hospitalization in comparison to previous Covid variants. However, Fauci has also warned that the new variant is extraordinarily contagious.
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9. The New York State Department of Health's data also revealed that around half of the hospitalized children are younger than five and this age group is also ineligible for vaccines currently.
10. The US has also recorded a rise in the number of Covid-19 infections on a daily basis as it registered an average of nearly 190,000 new cases daily over the past seven days, according to the data released by Johns Hopkins University.
