TAMPA, Fla — With omicron spreading throughout the United States, health experts are urging people to be careful as the virus is highly contagious.
"If you look at the number of cases, it’s going up like a rocket ship, which isn’t a surprise, we’ve seen that in other countries," said Doctor Michael Teng, who serves as the associate dean for USF's College of Medicine.
The Florida Department of Health releases a weekly COVID-19 report every Friday. From the week following Dec. 17, 2021, there were 125,201 new COVID cases reported by the DOH. The week following Dec. 10, 2021, there were 29,519 new COVID cases reported.
That's a jump of around 95,000 new COVID cases in one week.
Teng said for those vaccinated who get infected, they are likely going to be fine.
"Those people who are vaccinated or vaccinated and boosted, tend to have mild symptoms," Teng stated.
From the latest Florida Department of Health report, there were 506,608 vaccines administered. The latest data shows 71 percent of the people in Florida are vaccinated.
Teng warns that people who are unvaccinated are likely to end up in the hospital.
"Anecdotally, it’s mostly the unvaccinated people that are hospitalized," Teng said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in the last week, 381 people in Florida were hospitalized for COVID. That number is up from the previous week when 235 people were hospitalized for COVID in Florida.
The CDC reported in the last week 18 people died from COVID in Florida. The CDC's report shows deaths are down from November. During the week of Nov. 20, 2021, the CDC reported 142 people died.
Despite the spike in omicron cases, deaths are decreasing according to the CDC.
"The early data seems to show omicron is no more severe than delta and it may be less than delta," Teng explained.
Teng said it's important to get vaccinated and stay cautious because COVID is still in our communities. "The virus is still trying to figure out how to get around. It’s not evolving, it’s still adapting," he added.
Teng explained other countries that saw COVID cases spike due to omicron, like the United States is now, did see a decline. Teng hopes we see that same decline in cases.