Health officials are expecting a COVID-19 surge in Omaha and Nebraska as the labs churn out test results from the first wave of the holiday season.As you prepare your New Year’s Eve plans, doctors said the omicron variant will most likely be the uninvited guest to your party.”I think this may be the year that we need to put the quash on the New Year’s Eve celebrations just a little bit,” said Nebraska Medicine Infectious Disease Division Chief Dr. Mark Rupp.Rupp said you might want to change your plans due to the omicron variant doing its own party-hopping. “It would be better to safely ring in with people you care about rather than going to big New Year’s Eve parties and putting yourself and others at risk,” he said.Rupp expects an increase in cases after Christmas gatherings because omicron spreads rapidly and is twice as infectious as the delta variant. “The real danger is because it is so contagious, it causes many more infections when you look at the total number of people in the hospital, it actually is greater over time,” he said.To stay out of the hospital, Rupp urges people to get the vaccine and the booster, even though it’s early to say how long the effectiveness of the third shot will last with the new variant. “We continue to see the disparity between folks vaccinated and unvaccinated with the vaccine protecting against severe manifestations of illness, hospitalizations and death,” Rupp said.Rupp encourages revelers to stay close to family when they say hello to 2022. “I would plead with folks, we are in a dangerous time as we head into New Year’s weekend and they should use some restraint, be careful and be safe,” he said.
Health officials are expecting a COVID-19 surge in Omaha and Nebraska as the labs churn out test results from the first wave of the holiday season.
As you prepare your New Year’s Eve plans, doctors said the omicron variant will most likely be the uninvited guest to your party.
“I think this may be the year that we need to put the quash on the New Year’s Eve celebrations just a little bit,” said Nebraska Medicine Infectious Disease Division Chief Dr. Mark Rupp.
Rupp said you might want to change your plans due to the omicron variant doing its own party-hopping.
“It would be better to safely ring in with people you care about rather than going to big New Year’s Eve parties and putting yourself and others at risk,” he said.
Rupp expects an increase in cases after Christmas gatherings because omicron spreads rapidly and is twice as infectious as the delta variant.
“The real danger is because it is so contagious, it causes many more infections when you look at the total number of people in the hospital, it actually is greater over time,” he said.
To stay out of the hospital, Rupp urges people to get the vaccine and the booster, even though it’s early to say how long the effectiveness of the third shot will last with the new variant.
“We continue to see the disparity between folks vaccinated and unvaccinated with the vaccine protecting against severe manifestations of illness, hospitalizations and death,” Rupp said.
Rupp encourages revelers to stay close to family when they say hello to 2022.
“I would plead with folks, we are in a dangerous time as we head into New Year’s weekend and they should use some restraint, be careful and be safe,” he said.