Well, the Omicron variant developments come on the heels
of the US passing 800,000 deaths from Covid-19 and the
country begins days of holiday gatherings and travel.
National correspondent Maritsa Georgiou live from
Missoula, Montana, to tell us more about this recent
Covid surge that we're seeing and how we can avoid
another lockdown. Good morning. Maritsa. So what are
you seeing? Good morning, Alex. We're starting to see
pretty substantial clusters now being blamed on Omicron.
Across the pond, the U.K continues to see a dramatic
rise in Omicron cases doubling less than every two days
and new this morning, France is putting a halt on travel
to and from Britain. If what's happening in the UK is
any indication, we're in for a triple whammy of Omicron
Delta and the flu, with holiday travel mixed in.
New warnings as we learn more about the Omicron variant and
its predicted battle with Delta just before Christmas.
Early data suggests that Omicron is more transmissible
than Delta, with a doubling time of about two days. We
are watching a war right now between the Delta variant
and the Omicron variant as to who's going to become the
king of the viral hill and I think right now are
Omicron's transmission potentia means that it probably
will win. White House officials say we have the tools
to fight the variant and avoid another lockdown. We now
have vaccines for 95% of Americans. We know how to keep
our kids in school and our businesses open, and we're
not going to shut down our economy in any way. We're
gonna keep our schools and our businesses open. The U.S.
now shows a sharp increase in Omicron cases, making up
3% of the country's total Covid-19 cases, but more than
13% in places like New York and New Jersey. And health
experts say these are likely under estimates based on
how fast Omicron is moving. It is vital for everyone to
get vaccinated and boosted if they are eligible. Given
the increase in transmissibility, this also mea
continuing to be vigilant about masking and public
indoor settings in areas of substantial or high
community transmission. Right now, Walensky says, about
90% of US counties fit the definition of having high
community transmission. A handful of U.S. universities
started moving to remote for finals week. In New York,
Cornell University reported mor than 900 cases in the
last week. The university's president told stu
there was evidence of Omicron in a significant number
of samples where 98% of the campus is vaccinated. The
Omicron variant undoubtedly compromises the eff
of two dose mRNA vaccine induced antibodies
reduces the overall protection. In pro sports, the NFL
saw its worst two-day outbreak since the start of the
pandemic, with ESPN reporting 75 players who have
tested positive in the last few days. The NBA and NHL
are also postponing games. The surge isn't surprising
health experts, If you look across the pond, England
recorded its highest daily Covid-19 case number ever
Wednesday, adding more than 4000 Omicron cases to the
tally. I'm afraid we're also seeing the inevitable
increase in hospitalizations up by 10% nationally, week
on week and up by almost a third in London. Johns
says a sign of hope is the huge amount of people
lining up for booster doses. Dr. Anthony Fauci again
stressed the need for those shots in the U.S., saying
they replaced the need for an omicron specific vaccine
at this time. If we didn't have these tools, I would be
telling you to really, really be worried. But health
experts agree if you're unvaccinated or un boosted,
you're more vulnerable not only to Delta, but now, Omicron.
And the White House says in the first two weeks
of December, the U.S. administered 14 million booster
shots, which is the highest ever two-week total. And
later this afternoon, a CDC advisory panel will meet to
discuss and vote on updated recommendations for the
Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. That's in light
of the rates of a rare blood clotting disorder li
to that shot. alright, national correspondenta
Georgiou reporting live for us in Montana. Thank you.