Osterholm says the Twin Cities have 'passed the peak of omicron cases'

COVID-19
COVID-19 Photo credit Getty Images

After a tough month in the Twin Cities dealing with the surge in COVID-19 cases due to the omicron variant, Dr. Michael Osterholm shared good news: the region is over the peak.

Osterholm shared his thoughts on the pandemic with News Talk 830 WCCO's Vineeta Sawkar, going into what should be expected in the future.

Osterholm called attention to his analogy of the variant causing a "viral blizzard," saying it will also end like an actual blizzard.

"It may not end at the same time everywhere, meaning it may cut across the country or region, and some get hit earlier than others and recover earlier," Osterholm said. "That's what's happening in Minnesota, I think."

The epidemiologist went on to say that he thinks that cases in the cities have gone as high as they will, leading to a steep drop over the next three to four weeks.

Still, hospitalizations and deaths could take a little longer to decrease; as Osterholm pointed out, they are usually "lagging" behind cases.

"In greater Minnesota right now, we are beginning to see more cases and an increasing number of cases because they are, I think, 7 to 10 days behind what we are seeing in the Twin Cities," Osterholm said, predicting cases to hit their peak throughout the state in a week to week and a half.

As for what Minnesotans can do to remain safe and not put themselves at risk, Osterholm said staying vigilant with what we have already been doing is key.

"We all want to get this pandemic behind us. We're tired of it, we're very tired of it, we all are," Osterholm said. "I think that's an important point to acknowledge that it's fair for people to feel this."

Osterholm continued saying that we need to know that the omicron variant will be with us for the coming months, depending on what happens with other possible strains of the virus.

"We're not done with the variants yet; we don't know what the next variant will be and what will occur," Osterholm said. "So one of the things we need to do right now is, 'How will we address that?'"

Another point he made is that even after cases start to fall, they will still be well above what was seen before the variant spread.

He pointed to South Africa, where he says the cases right now, post-peak, are still 15 times higher than they were before omicron showed up.

"That's sure a lot lower in the number of cases that we would see during the big surge, but it's not gone," Osterholm said.

Featured Image Photo Credit: Getty Images