Former surgeon general rips Biden's COVID response: ‘Not what we were promised’
US daily COVID-19 cases set record high Monday as testing, hospital staff shortages persist
Businesses will have to ‘take control’ of COVID: Former surgeon general
Former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams says President Biden hasn’t kept his campaign promise of controlling the pandemic.
Dr. Jerome Adams, former U.S. surgeon general under both the Trump and Biden administrations, called out the president over his response to COVID-19 on "Varney & Co." Wednesday after U.S. cases hit a new record on Monday.
"It's absolutely not what we were promised when he ran for office and said he was going to control COVID, or what he's been telling us for most of the year," Adams told FOX Business’ Stuart Varney.
The U.S. tallied more than 1.4 million new COVID cases Monday, a record high. At the same time, hospitals are struggling to meet the capacity of patients and free tests remain hard to find.
"Hospitals are at capacity, they're at their breaking point," Adams stressed.
U.S. HOSPITALS SEE RISING COVID-19 RATES, STRAIN FROM STAFF SHORTAGES
He insisted that private businesses will have to combat the pandemic on their own.
Hospitals struggling to keep up with demand amid staffing shortages, rapid spread of omicron
Dr. David Buchin, the director of bariatric surgery at Huntington Hospital, argues the slowdown of elective surgeries coupled with more overtime pay for staff 'puts a damper' on profits for hospitals.
"Businesses really are going to need to take control of this," he noted. "I've always said this should be handled at the business and at the local level, not at the federal level."
The former surgeon general predicted the omicron variant’s peak has yet to hit America.
"We're going to continue to see rolling peaks across this country," Adams explained. "But I really do think, as do most people, that we're going to be over the worst of this and the next four to six weeks."
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
US will see ‘rolling peaks’ of COVID cases: Former surgeon general
Former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams answers when America will see peak omicron COVID-19 cases.
Though Adams admitted it’s too early to tell whether it’s safe to drop COVID mandates following this latest surge.
"Every time we make a prediction, COVID slaps us in the face and shows us we were wrong," he pointed out. "It's going to be about all of us doing the things we need to do to stay safe, stay in school, stay in business."