WASHINGTON, Dec 20, 2021 (BSS/AFP) - Top US pandemic advisor Anthony Fauci
on Sunday warned of a bleak winter ahead as the Omicron coronavirus variant
spurs a new wave of infections globally, sparking restrictions and concerns
over hospital capacity.

  "One thing that's very clear... is (Omicron's) extraordinary capability of
spreading," Fauci told NBC News. "It is just... raging through the world."

  Since it was first reported in South Africa in November, Omicron has been
identified in dozens of countries, prompting many to reimpose travel
restrictions and other measures.

  Despite indications it is not more severe than the Delta variant --
currently still the dominant strain -- the heavily mutated Omicron has been
shown in early data to have a worrying resistance to vaccines and higher
transmissibility.

  Fauci also cautioned against too much optimism over Omicron's severity,
noting that in South Africa, while the hospitalization-to-case ratio is lower
than with Delta, this could be due to underlying immunity from widespread
previous infections.

  "No matter how you look at it," he said, "when you have so many, many
infections, even if it is less severe, that overcomes this slight to moderate
diminution in severity."

  "Our hospitals, if things look like they're looking now in the next week or
two, are going to be very stressed," particularly in areas of the country
with low levels of vaccination, Fauci said.

  On Sunday, US Senators Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker each said
separately on Twitter that they had tested positive for Covid-19 despite
being vaccinated and boosted, and were experiencing mild symptoms.

  Neither indicated whether they had been infected with Omicron.

  Fauci urged unvaccinated Americans to get a shot and the vaccinated to get
boosters, which have been shown to re-up protection.

  - 'Tough few weeks to months' -

  The administration of President Joe Biden, who is due to address the nation
on pandemic developments on Tuesday, has been campaigning hard for
vaccination.

  While a little more than 70 percent of the US population has had at least
one shot, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
another 50 million eligible people remain unprotected, Fauci said.

  "With Omicron... it is going to be a tough few weeks to months as we get
deeper into the winter," he added.

  Omicron now accounts for around three percent of cases in the United
States, a figure that is expected to rise rapidly as has been seen in other
countries.

  On Saturday, New York state announced a record number of daily cases for
the second day in a row, with almost 22,000 positive results.

  The United States is the nation hit hardest by the pandemic, crossing
800,000 known Covid-19 deaths last week, according to a Johns Hopkins
University tracker.