‘Stealth’ omicron cases ramping up in US. But few consider pandemic a crisis, poll finds
Coronavirus cases in the U.S. are on the rise again as infections from the “stealth” omicron subvariant, BA.2, are ramping up.
Despite this, most of the country doesn’t consider the COVID-19 pandemic a crisis as of April 11, a new Axios-Ipsos poll found. This comes as omicron BA.2 cases make up approximately 85% of infections nationwide for the week ending April 9, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data estimates show.
In fact, less than one in 10 Americans see the pandemic as a crisis, according to the poll. Meanwhile, most (73%) said COVID-19 is a manageable issue, while 17% said the virus isn’t “a problem at all.”
Along partisan lines, Republicans surveyed were less concerned about the pandemic being a problem compared to Democrats. The poll interviewed 1,043 people April 8-11 and had a margin of error of +/- 3.4 percentage points.
In terms of BA.2’s spread, which has rapidly increased the past three months, the new White House COVID-19 czar said he’s not “overly concerned right now” about a surge but acknowledged the spike in cases while on the “Today” show on April 11.
“We’ve got to watch this very carefully. Obviously I never like to see infections rising,” Dr. Ashish Jha said during the appearance.
However, he said he doesn’t “think this is a moment where we have to be excessively concerned.”
Jha added that U.S. hospitalizations “are the lowest they have been in the entire pandemic.”
COVID cases rise for first time in months
COVID-19 cases hit a peak on Jan. 15, according to CDC data, and they’ve been on a downward trend since March 30, McClatchy News reported.
Now, the CDC has reported a slight rise in cases as they’ve increased by 4.9% as of April 6 compared to the prior week’s average.
Roughly half of states have recently experienced a spike in cases due to BA.2’s spread, including northeast states New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts, Axios reported.
Over the past 28 days, there have been more than 885,000 new COVID-19 infections in the U.S., according to Johns Hopkins University.
Meanwhile, about 99% of the country lives in an area with a low or medium COVID-19 Community Level as of April 12, the CDC reports. Under 1% of the country lives in an area with high infection rates and are recommended to wear a mask indoors in public.
What’s going on with mask mandates?
The spread of BA.2 comes as COVID-19 restrictions, such as mask mandates, have loosened across the U.S. in recent weeks. The CDC relaxed mask guidelines on Feb. 25 for most of the country, McClatchy News reported.
However, Philadelphia moved to restore its indoor mask mandate, which takes effect next week, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. No other cities have restored their mask mandate as of April 12.
Philadelphia has a low COVID-19 Community Level, according to the CDC.
Meanwhile, the governor of New Jersey said that he’d be “shocked” if the state brought back its indoor mask mandate, NJ.com reported.
The Transportation Security Administration’s mask mandate for public transportation, such as on airplanes, is set to expire April 18. Jha was asked if he supported an extension amid rising cases while on the “Today” show.
He said that it’s up to the CDC to decide and an extension is “absolutely on the table.”
Jha’s comments come as worldwide COVID-19 cases have surpassed 500 million as of April 12, according to Johns Hopkins.
This story was originally published April 12, 2022 at 4:35 PM with the headline "‘Stealth’ omicron cases ramping up in US. But few consider pandemic a crisis, poll finds."
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