The University of Florida (UF) predicts that 70 to 80% of the state population will be infected with the omicron variant of covid-19 before the new wave subsides, while it continues to break records of daily infections and hospitalizations grow , although not seriously.
A new UF model shows that the majority of Floridians, the state with the second highest average number of cases in the country in the last month, which this Saturday added another 69,914, will have contracted the pathogen in the coming days, according to the researcher from UF Ira Longini.
“If you look at the infection curve, we already think there were a million infections per day in late December, early January,” said Longini, professor of biostatistics at UF.
He stressed that the new variant spreads faster, with a shorter incubation period.
Researchers believe, however, that the number of serious cases and deaths will decrease with omicron.
“No doubt about that. The number of severe cases, hospitalizations and deaths will probably be around a third of what we see for delta, ”Longini explained.
Infections are expected to peak next week.
Longini further noted that there are currently no new variants in sight.
Florida on Friday reported a new record of positive daily cases since the pandemic began in March 2020, close to 77,000.
According to the UF investigation, the omicron wave will probably peak in mid-January with 90,000 daily cases.
The state, which has had nearly 4.5 million confirmed cases since the beginning of the pandemic, also faces a shortage of medical personnel and an increase in hospitalizations of more than 365% in the last two weeks, according to the latest data from the state.
It also suffers from a shortage of tests for the pathogen, which has led to long lines, and the absence of students of up to more than 100,000 on the first day of school this week.
Florida also disclosed that about a million rapid tests for covid-19 expired, which has caused the outrage of Floridians who in the middle of Christmas and travel time had to face long lines to get them.
This Saturday, residents of Miami-Dade and Broward counties in South Florida have free test kits available at public libraries while supplies last.
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