As world focuses on Omicron, Delta variant overwhelms parts of U.S.

George Morris, a covid-19 response incident commander for CentraCare, St. Cloud Hospital’s parent organization, described delta as a train going off the tracks. “We just continue to see rail car after rail car pile onto this derailment,” he said.

“Omicron is potentially another train coming,” Morris said. “It’s a whole other train coming right behind a wreck.”

Doctors and others on the front lines warn that delta strikes rapidly, filling hospitals so quickly some started rationing care for the first time during the pandemic. Vaccinated people end up infected in higher numbers when transmission is out of control. Although they are unlikely to fall seriously ill, they can still spread the virus, end up with a nasty but clinically mild case they’d rather avoid, or end up hospitalized if they are elderly or immunocompromised.

Even if omicron turns out to be less worrisome than feared, epidemiologists warn that the United States, particularly the Northeast and Upper Midwest, is still headed toward a winter surge fueled by the delta variant as people travel for the holidays and gather indoors during cold weather.