Dr. Anthony Fauci Says Upper Midwest, Chicago COVID-19 Cases Are Declining, But Omicron Will Soon Peak in Other States
Dr. Anthony Fauci, White House Chief Medical Advisor and Director of the NIAID, testifies at a break at a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on January 11, 2022 in Washington, D.C. The committee will hear testimony about the federal response to COVID-19 and new, emerging variants. Greg Nash-Pool/Getty Images

Dr. Anthony Fauci said some areas in the country, such as the Upper Northeast and the Upper Midwest with Chicago, where COVID cases have peaked, are declining sharply.

He noted that the rest of the country, particularly the South and the Western states, have not yet peaked and probably still surging or leveling off. However, he said these areas will almost invariably going to turn around and come down, Yahoo Life reported.

Fauci said it will be a little bit more painful for those states that have not yet peaked, which for the most part are under-vaccinated or less vaccinated.

However, the White House top medical adviser believes that people can be cautiously optimistic about the situation as the trend is starting to come down and will ultimately come down for the whole country.

Fauci also warned the public about the new COVID-19 variant, which is a sub-lineage of the original Omicron variant. It is referred to as B.2 now and is spreading in Denmark.

He noted that it may have some transmission advantage over the original, which could mean it may be more transmissible. However, Fauci has not confirmed yet if B.2. is more severe than the original Omicron, saying that the risk of each could be "somewhat similar."

Fauci said there will be many breakthrough infections. However, he noted that the significant difference is that the level of hospitalization and severity in the unvaccinated versus the vaccinated is quite striking.

COVID-19 Cases in Florida

In Florida, the state is seeing a steep decline in the Omicron infection wave. However, the count keeps on jumping, and fewer Floridians are seeking the protection of vaccines and booster shots, according to Tampa Bay Times.

Florida officials reported 198,719 COVID infections during the period of January 21-27, which is a 53 percent drop from the Omicron peak of 430,297 cases reported on January 7-13.

Florida hospital also recorded 9,409 confirmed COVID patients last Friday, with a decline of 11 percent from the previous week.

Meanwhile, a Florida school district will no longer allow excused absences for students who remain at home due to COVID concerns.

Orange County Public Schools district said it is an additional strain to their teachers as they continue to handle assignments for large numbers of absent students, as reported by NBC News.

COVID-19 Cases in California and Texas

California is also starting to see a slight decline in the average COVID-19 cases, with about a 48 percent decrease prior to the week of January 19, according to ABC 7.

Kara Nelson, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UC Berkeley, said they might be a slight change, but it does not mean people can let their guard down yet.

Texas has been seeing an all-time low in the number of intensive care unit beds available for adult patients. More than 13,300 hospitalized Texans have been positive for the virus as of Wednesday, Texas Tribune reported. However, ICU admissions for adults with COVID are lower as compared to previous surges, and fewer patients need ventilators now.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

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