Health experts in the US have warned Americans of a landslide of COVID-19 cases in the coming weeks, as the case count in the country continues to rise. Based on the seven-day average, the US has now reported a record number of daily new infections two days in a row, with Reuters estimating 290,000+ cases reported each day.

In view of the situation, infectious diseases expert Dr Michael Osterholm from the University of Minnesota told MSNBC in a dire warning, “We are going to see the number of cases in this country rise so dramatically, we are going to have a hard time keeping everyday life operating. The next month is going to be a viral blizzard. All of society is going to be pressurized by this.”

Similar warnings have also been issued by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director and Chief Medical Advisor to US President Joe Biden, Dr Anthony Fauci, who has forecasted a considerable spike in new COVID-19 infections in January 2022.

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Over the past few weeks, thousands of flights across the US were cancelled as COVID-19 cases continued to rise among both passengers and flight crews. Cruise ships too have been adversely affected, and ships operating on US waters reported around 5,000 cases between December 15 and 29, a massive spike from the 162 cases reported in the first two weeks of December. While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is actively monitoring the situation, it has advised Americans against travelling, regardless of their vaccination status. New protocols have been put into place to ensure that those who do travel do not end up accelerating the spread of the virus.

COVID-19 infections among children too have seen a considerable spike and the number of hospitalisations among children has increased by 58 percent over the past week. To help stymie the spread of the virus, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is reportedly considering rolling out booster doses to children between the ages of 12 and 15 years soon, although a vaccine for children under the age of five has yet to be authorised.

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The spike in COVID-19 cases is being driven by the highly transmissible omicron variant, which currently accounts for over 58 percent of cases in the country, as well as by increased travel and interactions during the holiday season. With New Year’s celebrations still to come and schools set to reopen after the winter break, things are looking dire indeed.