Expert On Infectious Disease Issues Stark Warning About Omicron

Dr. Michael Osterholm issued a bleak warning concerning what he thought would be a massive spike in the number of new COVID-19 cases, which he thinks will be most primarily driven by the new Omicron variant, as part of statements made during a broadcast of “Morning Joe” this past Thursday on MSNBC.

The doctor, who is currently the Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota and serves as a member of the COVID-19 Advisory Board for Old Uncle Joe, issued a warning that Omicron was most Likely to lead to an insanely large spike in the number of cases that it would be hard for the general public to go on living life as normal.

“What’s your take on the isolation down from 10 days to five?” started Willie Geist, the host of the show, as he made reference to the most recent and intense changes in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) guidelines when it comes to isolation and testing. “It’s more of what people can tolerate, according to Dr. Walensky, and hopefully getting people back to work and school, perhaps to set some people’s minds at ease, but is it based on science in your view?”

“Right now we have a very imperfect situation that’s going to require some very imperfect responses. Over the next three to four weeks, we are going to see the number of cases in this country rise so dramatically that we’ll have a hard time keeping everyday life operating,” answered Osterholm.

“Already we are seeing it in our healthcare settings where we can lose 10 to 20 percent of healthcare workers who are not available to work. We are seeing that right now in critical infrastructure areas where people can’t come to work.”

The doctor went on to state that, while he was not entirely sure that the new guidance from the CDC was “perfect,” it was originally designed to make sure that even during a massive spike in the number of cases, there would still be people who would be able to continue working and keep as many essential services open as entirely possible.

“You would like to have more time to allow people to clear the virus and not potentially be transmitting it. At the same time, we got to have people who are there every day who are doing the work. How can you provide the safest environment? I support what they are doing. I think it’s not perfect. It won’t be perfect and what we have come before us in the next few weeks is hardly going to allow for a perfect response,” he stated as an explanation.

 

The video of the interview can be watched below:

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