CDC Director Walensky on omicron's severity: 'Milder does not mean mild'

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Wednesday that while severity of disease "appears to be lower" with the omicron variant of the coronavirus, labeling the variant of concern as "milder" does not mean that it is mild. 

"And, while cases have dramatically increased and are five times higher than they were during the delta wave, hospitalizations have not increased at the same rate and deaths remain low in comparison to the case counts," she explained at the White House COVID-19 Response Team briefing.

Walensky said that while hospitalizations have been higher now than previously reported, the ratio of hospitalizations to cases remains lower than prior peaks.