in fact, the tsunami of cases is so huge and quick that it is overwhelming health systems around the world. >> do you disagree with the head of the w.h.o., especially given omicron is overwhelming american hospitals right now, much more than it has european hospitals? >> what we're seeing is not so much a wave as a flash flood. omicron is different because it is so stunningly infectious. i've never seen a virus this infectious. we're seeing positivity rates of 20, 30%. we're seeing what are called epidemic curves or the number of cases per day that are straight up, huge number of cases. and with that, the real risk of overwhelming hospitals. that's why it remains really important that we do everything possible to blunt transmission, so we don't have overwhelmed health care systems. that doesn't mean that omicron isn't very different. we don't know for sure, but everything we're seeing so far