originally we hear from the cdc director on the today show this morning, she confirmed that this morning saying it s not as effective picking up omicron as it was the delta or alpha variant but saying that the pcr test should be the reliable test for folks to take. that s why we re here at the site where you re seeing lines not yet but seeing lines across the city as that testing front continues, not just here in illinois but across the country. doctor, lines, lines everywhere but there s also questions about the antigen test and what people are taking and the delays in getting pcr results back. how concerning is all of that? should we be worried, for example, if we ve been relying on antigen tests? i ve been concerned about this for some time and think that, you know, a test that may only be 50/50 right is a test that still is a challenge in terms of understanding what to do with the information. i think this is a huge issue.
does this prolong the pandemic forever? tough to know. there is a possibility that they ll get infected, develop immunity. we are seeing that prior infection with delta or alpha variant is not protecting people from omicron. it is possible they ll develop immunity that will protect them from severe future variants. in the meantime in the hospital i ll keep taking care of everyone who comes in regardless of whether they are vaccinated or not. that is my oath and what i do for everybody and folks will continue to fill my hospital beds if they ve not gotten their shots. you are at brown. what do you make of the decision by cornell which saw a huge spike in covid cases after students came back to campus in ithica, new york, after thanksgiving break, to basically, you. shut down in person learning? is that something we ll see more of? is that even necessary if it is just cases and not hospitalizations and serious illness? i think that is a really