Yucatan Times<\/a>December 20, 2021<\/p>\n\n\n\n (United States \u2013 CNN) \u2013 \u201cForget the waves of Covid-19\u201d, one expert says, \u201cthere\u2019s a tsunami coming\u201d for unvaccinated Americans as the Delta variant continues to fuel new cases and hospitalizations. Likewise, the Omicron variant spreads rapidly and could soon swamp hospital systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis Omicron variant is extraordinarily contagious. It\u2019s as contagious as measles, and that\u2019s about the most contagious virus that we\u2019ve seen,\u201d CNN medical analyst Jonathan Reiner told CNN\u2019s Pamela Brown Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jonathan Reiner is a medical analyst and professor of medicine and surgery at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. He\u2019s warned that \u201ca tsunami is coming\u201d for Americans not vaccinated against covid-19, as cases and hospitalizations for the Delta variant are on the rise, while Omicron is spreading rapidly, which could overwhelm hospitals. \u201cThis omicron variant is extraordinarily contagious. It\u2019s as contagious as measles, and that\u2019s the most contagious virus we\u2019ve seen,\u201d he told CNN.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cases of Omicron are doubling every 1.5 to 3 days in the countries where community transmissions are documented, the World Health Organization said Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And in the US, Omicron is expected to become the \u201cdominant strain\u201d in the coming weeks, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ACCORDING TO JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY, the US was averaging 126,967 new cases of Covid-19 per day as of Saturday, and fourteen states saw an uptick of at least 10% in cases over the past week compared to the previous week, the data shows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Scientists say it\u2019s still too early to tell whether Omicron causes a milder form of Covid-19 disease, but regardless, it will put pressure on the health care system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to CDC data<\/a>, 61.4% of the total US population is fully vaccinated, and 29.1% have received a booster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n More than 69,000 people are hospitalized with Covid-19 across the US, and more than 20% of all ICU beds are occupied by Covid-19 patients, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Saturday, New York State broke its record for the highest single-day Covid-19 case count since the beginning of the pandemic for a second consecutive day, with Gov. Kathy Hochul\u2019s office<\/a> reporting 21,908 positive Covid-19 cases, up from 21,027 on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\nNew York tops the record for daily new cases.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n