Dr. Richina Bicette-McCain, an emergency medicine physician, acknowledged to CNN on Wednesday the Omicron variant of COVID-19 is a milder strain but added she does not like to publicly admit it.
CNN anchor John King said to Bicette-McCain hospitalizations and deaths are not as high compared to the increased number of COVID-19 cases and the other strains that spread across the U.S. in 2020.
"Yet it is still a challenge. What makes it different?" King asked.
"Omicron is less severe, however, I don't want to continue to push that narrative because I think that gives people a false sense of security. Cases are rising much faster, but hospitalizations and deaths are also still rising," Bicette-McCain said.
"Not only that, but we’re seeing a lot of hospital staff members, physicians, and nurses that are getting this more transmissible variant, therefore, we’re incurring staffing shortages. People who are contracting coronavirus, even if you get a mild case, that still puts you at risk for developing long-haul COVID," she continued. "Or children who contract coronavirus, even though they may do fine and don’t have any symptoms, weeks later they may develop ultra-respiratory systems. So Omicron is not the end of the story."
Bicette-McCain said she agrees with teacher unions who have been advocating for schools to close and go back to remote learning.
She really wants schools to remain closed.
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) January 5, 2022
"I agree with the teachers union." pic.twitter.com/8Z4MaPqKmH