Dr. Anthony Fauci warned Americans of the dangers posed by the Omicron variant of COVID-19 this week, urging people to avoid “hugging and kissing” at New Year’s Eve celebrations across the country.
“If your plans are to go to a 40- to 50-person New Year’s Eve party with all the bells and whistles and everybody hugging and kissing and wishing each other a happy new year, I would strongly recommend that this year we do not do that,” the senior Biden aide said during the White House medical briefing Wednesday.
“Although the risk is never zero in anything, the risk is low enough that we feel you should continue to go through with those plans of having a home-related vaccinated, boosted gathering with family and close friends who are also vaccinated and boosted.”
Fauci’s comments come one day after the CDC revised its COVID quarantine guidelines, slashing the required isolation time from 10 to five days for some cases.
“Not all of those cases are going to be severe. In fact, many are going to be asymptomatic,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Monday. “We want to make sure there is a mechanism by which we can safely continue to keep society functioning while following the science.”
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