According to Bloomberg News, omicron’s fate in the United States will meet a healthcare system that is used to handling Covid surges but a system that has been worn down due to handling Covid ever since the pandemic struck two years back and there is no end to it in sight as yet.
Due to the availability and adequate supply of protective gear, vaccines, and treatment tools, the hospitals are now capable of handling the crises better which also includes admissions into hospitals due to Covid which has witnessed an upsurge since November. Not much is known about the omicron variant that first appeared in the United States Wednesday in California.
According to Brian Peters, who is working as the chief executive officer of, Michigan Health and Hospital Association said that the very thought that there might be another surge of Covid of a new strain that has not been understood fully will likely put everyone in a tricky situation.
He also said that an upsurge that took place in Michigan during late summer has yet to settle down and come out of the chaos putting hospitals into a crisis. The military has been asked for help.
Bloomberg News also reports that the number of staff in the state hospitals is low in number as compared to the strength that was when the pandemic just started. This has led to a decrease in the number of inpatients beds by as many as 875 as compared to a year earlier.
The situation across the nation is grim and four out of five beds in the intensive care units have been occupied and the strength of the patients suffering from Covid constitute 17% of the beds.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, starting November the admission of Covid patients began increasing with approximately 6000 and more seeking admission into the hospitals daily.
Not quite prepared
The first omicron case to be confirmed in the US was in San Francisco when a traveler returning from South Africa isolated himself at home. During late November, this new variant sent shock waves across the globe when scientists identified mutations that are likely to show greater power of transmission.
As the crisis is ongoing, exhaustion and burnout signs are increasing, as per Zink, who is an emergency doctor and Association of State and Territorial Health officials’ president-elect.
According to a survey that was conducted by Kaiser Family Foundation and the Washington Post, 3 out of 10 frontline healthcare workers were planning to give up this profession due to the pandemic.
It was also found that the healthcare system in the United States is becoming less prepared for upsurges than it was two years back when the pandemic first started. The scenario is worsening over time. However, experts are also saying that this is not the right time to panic but to get prepared for the booster.
