An average of 2,380 people, mostly unvaccinated, are dying each day due to Omicron which is up 30% from a week ago, according to a Reuters tally. That surpassing the height of deaths caused by the more severe Delta variant.
As the highly contagious Omicron surged in December and earlier this month, hospital systems from New Jersey to New Mexico buckled under the sheer number of patients - some brought in for Omicron, others for something else, only to discover they too had the virus.
While cases nationally are down by 12% in the last seven days, Wafaa El-Sadr, a professor of epidemiology and medicine at Columbia University in New York City, warns this doesn't spell the end of Covid.
"I think for many people, there's been this sense of almost anticipation or a hope that there would be one day when COVID would be completely gone, that they'll wake up and say, 'OK, today there's no more COVID and yesterday there was COVID.' This is very, very unlikely. It's very unlikely that we're going to be able to eliminate or even eradicate this virus. And, therefore, the future, I think, is really all about how do we live with COVID. But also, how do we minimize the risk and particularly for the most vulnerable, how to protect them from COVID and its many complications?"
One bright note Tuesday, despite the recent uptick in deaths: according to a new U.S. study, Omicron does appear to result in less severe infections than seen during previous waves, with shorter hospital stays, less need for intensive care and fewer deaths as a percentage of overall cases.
The study said the lower severity is likely related to higher vaccination rates as well as prior infections providing some immune protection.
