Scientists are seeing signals that COVID-19′s alarming omicron wave may have peaked in Britain and is about to do the same in the U.S., at which point cases may start dropping off dramatically.
“It’s going to come down as fast as it went up,” said Ali Mokdad, a professor of health metrics sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle.
The University of Washington’s own highly influential model projects that the number of daily reported cases in the U.S. will crest at 1.2 million by Jan. 19 and will then fall sharply “simply because everybody who could be infected will be infected,” according to Mokdad. Kevin McConway, a retired professor of applied statistics at Britain’s Open University, said that while cases are still rising in places such as southwest England and the West Midlands, the outbreak may have peaked in London.
Differences between Britain and South Africa, including Britain’s older population and the tendency of its people to spend more time indoors in the winter, could mean a bumpier outbreak for the country and other nations like it. On Tuesday, the World Health Organization said there have been 7 million new COVID-19 cases across Europe in the past week, calling it a “tidal wave sweeping across the region.” WHO cited modeling from Mokdad’s group that predicts half of Europe’s population will be infected with omicron within about eight weeks.“There will probably be some ups and downs along the way, but I would hope that by Easter, we will be out of this,” Hunter said.
Mokdad likewise warned in the U.S.: “It’s going to be a tough two or three weeks. We have to make hard decisions to let certain essential workers continue working, knowing they could be infectious.”
Malaysia Latest News, Malaysia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Omicron May Already Be Peaking in East Coast States — Best LifeA top expert is now predicting that Omicron may already be peaking in cities and states along the East Coast and could start dropping soon.
Read more »
Rapid epidemic expansion of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant in southern AfricaNature research paper: Rapid epidemic expansion of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant in southern Africa
Read more »
Rapid epidemic expansion of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant in southern AfricaNature research paper: Rapid epidemic expansion of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant in southern Africa
Read more »
U.S. sends states monoclonal antibodies that may not work against omicronThe federal government has resumed shipping all three monoclonal antibody treatments authorized for early-stage covid-19 to states despite evidence that two might be ineffective against the omicron variant of the coronavirus that is sweeping the country. The move has drawn mixed reactions from physicians and experts. Some are concerned many of the costly infusions will be useless, causing confusion among patients who have heard glowing reports about the treatments. They note that it can be diffi
Read more »
UCSF doctor says you may get false negatives on 1st day of testing for omicronDr. Wacther says this is why some CDC guidelines are 'incredibly tricky.' While in some cases those guidelines say you can return to work in five days, he says at that point, there's a 20% chance you're still infectious - plus the possibility of false negatives for omicron if you test too early.
Read more »
WHO body says COVID-19 vaccines may need to be updated for OmicronA World Health Organization technical body said on Tuesday that current COVID-19 vaccines may need to be reworked to ensure they are effective against Omicron and future variants of the coronavirus.
Read more »