in fact, the tsunami of cases is so huge and quick that it is overwhelming health systems around the world. do you disagree with the head of the w.h.o., especially given omicron is overwhelming american hospitals right now, much more than it has european hospitals? what we re seeing is not so much a wave as a flash flood. omicron is different because it is so stunningly infectious. i ve never seen a virus this infectious. we re seeing positivity rates of 20, 30%. we re seeing what are called epidemic curves or the number of cases per day that are straight up, huge number of cases. and with that, the real risk of overwhelming hospitals. that s why it remains really important that we do everything possible to blunt transmission, so we don t have overwhelmed health care systems. that doesn t mean that omicron isn t very different. we don t know for sure, but everything we re seeing so far
seen before. more than 800 children are being hospitalized daily. children who can t be vaccinated or aren t vaccinated make up a majority of the cases according to dr. rochelle walensky. they are most likely to get sick with covid if family members aren t vaccinated. reporter: some testing labs report they re already overburdened. the university of washington prioritizing tests for those with respiratory symptoms or a new exposure. the university of north carolina in chapel hill also restricting tests to those issuing symptoms and people needing a test before surgery, with the omicron crush not letting up yet. new york city and washington, d.c., maryland, probably floor as well, have already peaked and maybe delaware and rhode island and you ll start to see the curves and the epidemic curves.