COVID-19: Fauci is optimistic Omicron variant will peak February 2022

*United States foremost scientist and infectious diseases expert Dr. Anthony Fauci says ‘things are looking good’ regarding the Omicron cases, but ‘we don’t want to get overconfident’

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

Amid the surging cases of the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic around the world, Dr. Anthony Fauci, United States (US) foremost scientist and infectious diseases expert, has said that “things are looking good” in this regard.

ConsumerConnect learnt Dr. Fauci in an interview on ABC ‘This Week’ Sunday, January 23, 2022, said with optimism that the Omicron surge is “going in right direction” with many states past peak in the US.

The US top infectious diseases specialist also noted that he is “as confident as you can be” about the prospect of most states reaching a peak of Omicron cases by mid-February this year.

Fauci stated: “You never want to be overconfident when you’re dealing with this virus,” adding, that the COVID-19 virus has “surprised us in the past.”

However, he said that “things are looking good. We don’t want to get overconfident, but they look like they’re going in the right direction right now.”

The scientist further disclosed that there are states in the North-East and in the upper midwest in the country where cases have already peaked and declined “rather sharply”, but that cases are still rising in southern and western states.

Fauci said: “There may be a bit more pain and suffering with hospitalisations in those areas of the country that have not been fully vaccinated or have not gotten boosters.”

On “what should life look like” going forward and about the “long-term strategy” for dealing with future peaks and COVID-19 variants, Fauci said the hope is the level of infection will be below what he calls an “area of control.”

“Control means you’re not eliminating it, you’re not eradicating it, but it gets down to such a low level, that it’s essentially integrated into the general respiratory infections that we have learned to live with,” said he.

According to him, the aspiration is that future variants won’t “disrupt society” or “create a fear of severe outcomes that are broad” but that the country should still be “prepared for the worst-case scenario.

“We’d like it to get down to that level where it doesn’t disrupt us in the sense of getting back to a degree of normality. That’s the best-case scenario.”

In the meantime, as President Joe Biden’s administration begins to ship out free COVID-19 tests to American consumers and provide free N95 non-surgical nosemasks across the country, Fauci stated during the interview that these kinds of protections could help keep future variants at a “lower level.”