While Dr. Anthony Fauci pointed on Wednesday to two new studies showing that the hypercontagious Omicron variant of the coronavirus is less deadly than the Delta variant, he cautioned against drawing the conclusion that the data might be a sign that the pandemic was drawing to a close.
At a briefing by the White House COVID-19 response team, Fauci, President Biden’s chief medical adviser, was asked about the belief among some South Korean health officials that Omicron was a blessing in disguise given its apparent heightened degree of transmissibility and diminished overall severity.
“I would hate to say a ‘blessing in disguise.’” Fauci replied. “I never thought of a virus that