Cases are skyrocketing among Broadway comedians, the basketball season is disrupted and Joe Biden predicts a “winter of serious illness and death” for the unvaccinated: nervousness gained Thursday in the United States over the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.
The US president warned that this highly contagious new variant was “there” and would “start to circulate much faster”.
On December 1, the number of new daily cases in the United States was on average 86,000; on December 14, it was 117,000, an increase of about 35% in two weeks.
“The only real protection is to get your injection,” said Joe Biden, predicting “a winter of serious illness and death” for the unvaccinated.
Vaccinated or not, it is in all cases a gloomy winter that seems to be looming for the Americans.
In New York, the cancellations of performances are increasing on Broadway, temple of musicals, because of an increase in positive cases among the troops.
Prestigious American universities have already adapted their operations, by organizing online courses and exams in order to avoid contamination on campus.
The NFL, the American football league, has put in place strengthened health measures after registering a hundred positive cases among players since the beginning of the week.
The NBA, the basketball league, is also affected – two Chicago Bulls games have been postponed. On Thursday night, two Los Angeles Lakers players, including star Russell Westbrook, had to forfeit their Friday game due to Covid protocol.
– “Message to the Americans” –
In the White House, the change in tone is obvious.
Joe Biden, who a few weeks ago asked not to “panic” over the new variant, called reporters on Thursday at the end of a meeting devoted to the Covid-19 pandemic for, he said , to “send a message directly to the Americans”.
Looking serious, he recalled that it was “of the utmost importance” to receive a booster dose for those vaccinated, and to “receive the first dose” for the others.
Shortly before, the deputy spokeswoman for the White House Karine Jean-Pierre had suggested that the administration would not take specific restrictive measures for the moment, to focus instead on vaccination.
“The tools we have are working,” she said, adding: “We will continue to work so that Americans get vaccinated and get their booster shots.”
Joe Biden, elected largely on a promise to end the pandemic, unveiled a plan on December 2 that was supposed to protect the United States against a surge of cases, hospitalizations and deaths. But he had been careful not to take very restrictive decisions, knowing the highly sensitive subject.
– Reluctance –
Americans are weary of the pandemic, and the tenors of the Republican opposition regularly rise up against all attempts to impose vaccines or the wearing of masks.
Faced with Omicron, the United States has closed its borders to passengers from certain African countries, but has not taken other restrictions, and has so far not imposed any reinforced health measures on domestic flights.
The president’s room for maneuver is reduced anyway, as shown by the multiple legal proceedings initiated against the vaccine obligations he wants to impose on public and private companies.
The United States, officially the country most bereaved by the pandemic, exceeded 800,000 deaths from Covid-19 on Tuesday, according to the results of Johns Hopkins University.
This number is greater than the population of entire American states, such as North Dakota or Alaska.
Around 450,000 deaths, the majority of unvaccinated people, took place in 2021, despite the availability from the spring of very effective and free vaccines.
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