An infectious disease expert is warning that the surge in new COVID-19 infections could make it hard for “everyday life” to keep operating.
Dr. Michael Osterholm, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, discussed the surge in coronavirus cases during an appearance on MSNBC on Thursday.
“Right now we have a very imperfect situation that’s going to require some very imperfect responses,” he said, adding, “Over the next three to four weeks, we are going to see the number of cases in this country rise so dramatically that we’ll have a hard time keeping everyday life operating.”
He continued, “Already we are seeing it in our healthcare settings where we can lose 10 to 20 percent of healthcare workers who are not available to work at all, in a very difficult market already. We are seeing that right now in critical infrastructure areas where people can’t come to work.”
Watch the video below:
"Over the next 3-4 weeks, we are going to see the number of cases in this country rise so dramatically that we're gonna have a hard time keeping everyday life operating."
— The Recount (@therecount) December 30, 2021
— Dr. @mtosterholm on the imperfect situation that requires imperfect responses, like new CDC guidance pic.twitter.com/49J4WvSNxU
On Tuesday, the U.S. broke its own record for the highest number of confirmed new coronavirus cases, recording 512,553 new infections.
And on Wednesday, the average number of new infections was 301,000, up from 267,000 the previous day. Over the past week, there have been more than 2 million new cases recorded, and 15 states and territories broke their previous records for the number of new infections recorded in a seven-day period.
Earlier this week, staffing shortages caused by the coronavirus led to the suspension of the service of three subway lines in New York City and three trains in New Jersey.
And over the past week, airlines were forced to cancel thousands of domestic flights and international flights due to staffing shortages from the virus and winter weather.
