U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy Warns of Rising Omicron Cases in Much of the Country, Says 'Next Few Weeks Will Be Tough'

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy cautioned the public that the "next few weeks" would be tough as the COVID-19 cases from the Omicron variant continue to surge.

According to Murthy, around 800,000 new cases are being reported across the country daily. But some regions, such as New York, have started to see a plateau in infections, New York Post reported.

Murthy told CNN's "State of the Union" that the challenge was that the entire country was not moving at the same pace. He noted that the Omicron wave began later in other parts of the country.

Murthy reminded the public to ramp up COVID precautions like getting vaccinated since one thing they learned during this surge was that the "vaccines are still working very well to keep people out of the hospital and to save their lives."

Dr. Ashish Jha, the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, also echoed the surgeon general's sentiments, saying the next several weeks could overwhelm hospitals and staff.

"Right now, we're at about 150,000 people in the hospital with COVID... That's more than we've ever had. I expect those numbers to get substantially higher," he told "Fox News Sunday."

Vivek Murthy said that COVID-19 infections driven by the Omicron variant will continue to increase in much of the country, and the "next few weeks will be tough."

COVID Omicron Variant Continues to Spread in the U.S.

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published report said the Omicron variant made up around 95.4 percent of new COVID cases at the beginning of the year. According to CBS News, New England and part of the Midwest have yet to reach 90 percent locally.

Vivek Murthy has disagreed with the Supreme Court's decision last week to reject President Joe Biden's vaccine-or-testing mandate for large employers amid the COVID variant's spread.

The vaccine-or-testing mandate would have applied to more than 80 million workers. Murthy said the rejection of that particular mandate was a setback for public health as the requirements were ultimately helpful, not just for protecting the community at large, but also workplaces for workers and customers, The New York Times reported.

Around 63 percent of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated. However, only 38 percent of those have received a booster shot. Some argued that it should be the new definition of full vaccination.

Biden Administration's COVID Vaccine Mandate

The Supreme Court has slammed the Biden administration's rule that requires larger businesses to ensure that workers are vaccinated against COVID or wear masks and get tested weekly.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced the workplace mandate last fall, which would have covered around 80 million U.S. workers and saved over 6,500 lives, and prevented 250,000 hospitalizations in the next six months, NBC News reported.

Biden said he was disappointed with the Supreme Court's decision to block "common sense" life-saving mandates for employees at large businesses.

The president noted that they have to keep working together if they want to save lives, adding that they should keep people working and put the pandemic "behind us."

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Surgeon General Vivek Murthy Discusses Omicron Variant and How to Combat Its Rapid Spread - From CBS Mornings