US coronavirus cases and hospitalizations are surging, causing new disruptions and cancelations

“The cases are going up,” Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Wednesday night. “We have an average of about 117,000 cases. We have an increase the percentage of hospitalizations. Deaths are still over a thousand. Then you have, looking over your shoulder, the Omicron variant, which we know, from what’s going on in South Africa and in the UK, is a highly transmissible virus.”

Experts such as Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, have said it is likely the Omicron variant will become the dominant strain, though the US continues to struggle with the Delta variant. Omicron, however, has shown in other countries that “it has an extraordinary ability to transmit efficiently and spread,” Facui told ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Thursday.

“It has what we call a doubling time of about three days,” he said, adding, “if you do the math on that … very soon it’s going to be the dominant variant.”

“We’ve seen that in South Africa, we’re seeing it in the UK, and I’m absolutely certain that’s what we’re going to be seeing here relatively soon,” he said.

Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, a professor of infectious diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, agreed. Based on what’s happening in the UK, she said, “we are almost certainly going to be in for what we’re seeing already, which is an early surge, or I should say an early stage of the surge that is probably going to be informed by Omicron.”

Health officials are highlighting the importance for Covid-19 vaccines and boosters. While there’s “no doubt” vaccinated individuals will be infected by Omicron, Fauci told Blitzer, “if you want to be optimally protected and you’re vaccinated, get boosted.”

Universities move online as Broadway cancels performances

In an email to students Wednesday, NYU Provost Katherine Fleming said a “considerable acceleration in the rate of new cases” was “not a cause for alarm, but it is a cause for concern, caution and appropriate actions.”

Princeton University announced Wednesday all undergraduate exams would shift to a remote format to allow students to “leave campus at their earliest conveniences.” Indoor gatherings where face coverings can’t be worn are also canceled or postponed through January 7, 2022.

The uptick in cases “has caused significant staffing shortages, disruptions to the department’s practice, and other challenges,” Administrative Assistant District Attorney Bonnie Sard said in a letter to staff.

It’s unclear how many staff members tested positive, and a representative for the office would not elaborate on the outbreak’s impact. Those who have tested positive must quarantine, Sard said, and numerous staff of the impacted department have been asked not to come into the office out of an abundance of caution.

Professional sports leagues are also dealing with increases in Covid-19 cases, offering a “window” into wider community spread, according to former US Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams.

The NFL acknowledged Wednesday the uptick in cases among its players and teams, including the Cleveland Browns, scheduled to host the Las Vegas Raiders on Saturday. Despite the growing number of players added to the Browns’ reserve list, there are no plans to postpone the game, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told reporters.

Adams on Thursday told CNN’s “New Day” others should pay attention to pro sports, saying, “They’re really a window into community spread.”

“Kudos to the sports leagues because they are actually doing a fantastic job of surveillance testing,” Adams said. “And the rest of the country, we’re driving a car down a dark road with the headlights off while looking in the rearview mirror, and we hit a bump and we say what was that? That’s our surveillance system right now for Covid.”

Officials continue to push vaccines and boosters

Rising infections and the specter of the Omicron variant have federal health officials once again urging Americans to get vaccinated and, if eligible, get their booster doses.

While it’s reassuring Omicron infections appear to be less severe, “that’s really only true probably if you’re a healthy person who’s been immunized, and ideally immunized with three shots,” Dr. Marrazzo told CNN’s Kate Bolduan on Thursday.

“What we don’t know yet is what the degree of severe illness is going to be with this variant,” she said. “And we still have so many places that don’t even have primary vaccination coverage above 50%, let alone booster coverage.”

Those who are vulnerable to the virus remain those who are not vaccinated, Fauci said, though he hopes that a potential surge driven by Omicron will spur more people to get inoculated. “We have the tools to be able to blunt this. We just need to implement them.”

Many Americans appear to be heeding the advice: About 1.8 million vaccine doses have been administered each day over the past week, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than half those doses were boosters, and about 413,000 people are initiating vaccinations each day.

However, with boosters now widely available, officials are also debating what should qualify as “fully vaccinated” moving forward. Currently, the federal government considers people to be fully vaccinated if they’ve received two doses of Moderna’s or Pfizer/BioNTech’s vaccines, or a single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

“I actually really think it’s important for people to understand, the CDC, the White House — many scientists have said this, most doctors have said this — need to change the definition of fully vaccinated, especially for J&J,” Adams said Thursday.

Fauci similarly called the definition of “fully vaccinated” a “semantic thing for regulation,” underscoring that what’s important is that people get a booster shot.