According to medical experts, an “exponential” increase in Omicron cases in Massachusetts and other states is already underway.

A public health expert at the Massachusetts Consortium, led by Harvard Medical School, on Monday’s pathogen preparation Omicron, Federal officials have announced that they account for almost three-quarters of new infections, telling reporters that cases of highly infectious COVID-19 mutations are increasing in the region.

Mass. Dr. Jake Lemieux, an infectious disease specialist at General Hospital, told reporters at a remote consortium briefing that there was an “exponential rise in Omicron everywhere” throughout New England.

“We see an exponential increase in cases in all states, especially in Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts, with high prevalence and rising prevalence everywhere. “Mr. Remu said. “It’s clear that we’re sitting on the waves of Omicron throughout the region, and Omicron is washing us away. The question is, how serious is this wave carrying us? Will it be? “

He said we can rely on the increasing number of cases.

“You know that the number of cases will increase significantly beyond the number of cases from the second delta. [variant] It surged, “said Remu.

In the first COVID-19 report since Monday, Friday, the state report 13,717 newly confirmed coronavirus cases and 28 newly confirmed coronavirus deaths.

Meanwhile, the federal health authorities on Monday Omicron variants said they accounted for 73 percent Last week, a new infection broke out nationwide, making it the predominant version of the coronavirus in the United States.

According to Lemieux, medical professionals are wondering how the proliferation of Omicron will affect the medical system.

“That’s what we have a lot of uncertainty,” Lemieux said. “But I think we need to be prepared for this potential impact. Again, the second hump of the delta surge has already put a lot of stress on our hospital system. Therefore, this Omicron wave will already be a catastrophic surge. “

The State Public Health Department reported Monday afternoon that 93% of medical and surgical beds were used in hospitals in Massachusetts and 86% of ICU beds were filled.The agency will update the numbers by 5 pm on weekdays

Also at the consortium briefing on Monday, Dr. Galito Alter, a professor at Harvard Medical School and a senior researcher at Harvard’s Ragon Institute at MGH, MIT, addressed the issue of vaccine efficacy against Omicron variants.

Her analysis was calm.

“The data is really tough,” Alter said. “And it is consistently clear that this mutant can very effectively counteract and avoid neutralizing antibodies induced by all platforms, including vaccines.”

But it’s not all about the rigors of Omicron.

“Despite the fact that boosters may not be available anywhere in the world and not all populations in the world have very high levels of antibody … we are milder. I’m seeing illness, “Alter said. “And this tells us that there are other arms of the immune system, such as T cells, and other functions of the immune response triggered by vaccines and natural infections that grab and control this virus. , Seems to be able to get rid of it. “

In addition, the reporter spoke with Dr. Salim Abdul Karim, an epidemiologist of clinical infectious diseases and director of the AIDS Research Program Center in South Africa. He said hospitalization rates in South Africa, where Omicron was first detected, were lower in patients infected with the variant than in previous variants.

“So we’ve seen a lot [Omicron] Cases are rarely allowed, “he said. “And among the patients in hospital, a lower percentage of those patients meet the criteria for severe infections …. Case fatality rate is more omicron than that seen in beta or delta variants. Is almost one tenth. “

Globe Correspondent Nick Stoiko contributed to this report.

Travis Andersen can be reached at [email protected].. Follow him on Twitter @TAGlobe..