|
 Striking a more dire tone about the risks of remaining unvaccinated,
President Joe Biden will lay out the initiatives on Tuesday in a
speech that aims to persuade Americans to protect themselves from
the fast-spreading variant, a senior administration official said.
The measures include activating some 1,000 military medical
personnel to support hospitals.
"We will also note that if you are unvaccinated, you are at high
risk of getting sick. This variant is highly transmissible and the
unvaccinated are eight times more likely to be hospitalized and 14
times more likely to die from COVID," the official said.
With the holiday travel season already begun, new COVID-19 cases are
surging in the United States, prompting local and federal officials
to again confront just how far to go to combat the virus. Federal
officials said that Omicron now accounts for 73% of all new cases,
up from less than 1% at the beginning of the month.
Health officials in Texas said on Monday the state recorded what ABC
News reported is believed to be the first known U.S. death related
to Omicron.
The highly contagious variant was first detected last month in
southern Africa and Hong Kong, and has raced around the globe and
been reported in 89 countries, the World Health Organization said on
Saturday.
Lines for COVID-19 tests wrapped around the block in New York,
Washington and other U.S. cities over the weekend as people clamored
to find out if they were infected before celebrating the holidays
with family.
Facing criticism that testing resources are inadequate, Biden will
announce on Tuesday that the federal government will buy 500 million
at-home rapid tests and make them available to all Americans in
January.
Americans can access a new website to have them delivered, but
officials are still working on how many tests a household can
request.
The administration will also open multiple federal testing centers
starting in New York City ahead of Christmas, a senior
administration official said.
[to top of second column] |
 More federal sites will be
opened across the country in areas of high need
and when requested by local and state officials,
the official said.
'TAKING ACTION NOW'
"Testing in this country is a lot better than it
was, but there's more to do and we're taking
action now," the official said.
The free tests are in addition to a plan to have health insurers
provide free tests for Americans with coverage that is also expected
to begin in January.
Biden will note that the Omicron variant is so contagious that it
will infect vaccinated Americans but that they will be far less
likely to get seriously sick.
So-called breakthrough infections are rising among the 61% of the
country's fully vaccinated population, including the 30% who have
gotten booster shots.
Still, Biden will tell Americans that those who are vaccinated and
follow guidance around using masks, especially while traveling,
should feel comfortable celebrating the holidays as planned.
New COVID-19 cases rose 9% in the United States in the past week but
are up 57% since the start of December, according to a Reuters
tally.
The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients has increased 26% this
month, with hospitals in some areas already strained by the Delta
variant that emerged earlier this year.
There have been almost 51 million infections and 809,268 coronavirus-related
deaths reported in the country since the pandemic began, the most of
any country.
(Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw and Ahmed Aboulenein; Editing by Peter
Cooney)
[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content
 |
