| The omicron variant continues to send case numbers and hospitalizations soaring and health experts warn that because the numbers will likely get worse before they get better, now is the time to take preventative action.
“I don’t buy the idea that we are all going to get omicron and, therefore, just give up trying. I think that’s wrong,” Dr. Robert Wachter, chairman of the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, told CNN on Wednesday.
Wachter predicts that "the next month is going to be awful," but says this doesn't mean everyone should assume they'll get COVID-19. He pointed to the pattern of the omicron surge in other countries, such as the U.K. and South Africa.
“In a month or six weeks or eight weeks — hard to know — if we follow the pattern that South Africa has followed, if we follow what London appears to be showing us, they are starting to come down in cases,” Wachter said.
Arthur Caplan, director of medical ethics at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, said mask-wearing and vaccinations are the best ways to keep safe during the latest surge.
“We have restricted second-hand smoking, if you will, in public spaces due to second-hand smoke,” he said. “You can lose your ability to drive if you engage in risky behavior. So, we don’t live in a society that just says, ‘freedom means I can do what I want’ or ‘freedom means I have choice without any accountability or responsibility.’ When you hurt others, our mothers, put others at risk, you have got to take some responsibility.”
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