landfall and how to plan and spend to reduce the worst impact and death. in the evidence and science-based world the current covid surge is now, while concerning, already now far less deadly because of these vaccines. that is a fact. that is a fact worth knowing. right now the alternatives to facts remain dangerous. with that in mind let's bring in our experts. dr. patel and michael steele the former lieutenant governor and rnc chair. doctors, your thoughts on what you know about the new strain and the mitigation phase of the ongoing pandemic. >> ari, you captured it correctly. if we could compare and had omicron now and the transmissibility which we are still trying to get more details on just how infectious this is compared to the delta variant. if we had it a year ago it would have been devastation, without knowing the severity.