UC Berkeley Expert Offers Optimistic COVID Outlook: Report

BERKELEY, CA – Nearly two years into the pandemic, an end may be in sight for the Bay Area.

That’s according to a UC Berkeley infectious disease expert who warns that we could be in for a world of hurt in the coming weeks, but said conditions could improve dramatically soon after the omicron-fueled surge peaks, The San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Driven by the hyper-infectious variant, the U.S. set a single-day case record Wednesday when it reported 704,369 new infections.

“If you’re asking how I feel about the very short run, this month, I think we’re really in for a rough month, not just nationally or California, but the Bay Area,” Dr. John Swartzberg told The Chronicle.

But the case explosion that is expected to peak in mid-January figures to provide additional immunity to a region with among the nation’s highest vaccination rates.

The pandemic has proven itself to be unpredictable, and additional variants could surface that render today’s forecasts useless.

But in the absence of any substantial developments, and assuming immunity acquired from omicron infection offers protection from delta, all signs point to the return of a greater sense of normalcy, Swartzberg said.

“…then all of a sudden the world looks different,” Swartzberg told The Chronicle.

“Come February and through spring and summer. … All of the sudden the virus doesn’t look as fearful to us. It won’t terrify the population and it won’t lead to hospitalizations and deaths and it’s not going to incapacitate society.”

Read more in The San Francisco Chronicle