The latest number is almost double the previous record of about 590,000 set just four days ago in the US, which itself was a doubling from the prior week, reports Asian Lite Newsdesk
More than 1 million people in the US were diagnosed with Covid-19 as a tsunami of omicron swamps every aspect of daily American life.
The highly mutated variant drove US cases to a record, the most — by a large margin — that any country has ever reported. Monday’s number is almost double the previous record of about 590,000 set just four days ago in the US, which itself was a doubling from the prior week.
It is also more than twice the case count seen anywhere else at any time since the pandemic began more than two years ago. The highest number outside the US came during delta surge, when more than 414,000 people were diagnosed on May 7, 2021.
The stratospheric numbers being posted in the US come even as many Americans are relying on tests they take at home, with results that aren’t reported to official government authorities. That means the record is surely a significant under-estimate.
While surging cases haven’t yet translated into severe infections and skyrocketing deaths, their impact has been felt across the country as the newly-infected isolate at home. The results are canceled flights, closed schools and offices, overwhelmed hospitals and strangled supply chains.
The data from Johns Hopkins University is complete as of midnight eastern time in Baltimore, and delays in reporting over the holidays may have played a role in the rising rates.
The surge is leading authorities to mull a revision of some measures put in place to help guide the nation through the latest phase of the outbreak. While the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shortened the isolation period to five days for asymptomatic people who test positive for Covid-19, the agency may add that they should get a negative test result before venturing out again, officials said.
The outbreak is also causing companies to halt their return-to-office steps, with the likes of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. adopting the more cautious stance of encouraging staff to resume working from home at the start of the new year.
The silver lining is that deaths from Covid haven’t similarly soared. Early studies show the omicron variant spreads faster than earlier strains but causes milder symptoms.
The outlook for 2022 depends on whether the death toll follows cases and picks up in the weeks to come, or if evidence suggesting the omicron wave will be less severe holds up as more real-world data emerges.
Over 1 Lakh hospitalised
Covid-19 hospitalizations in the US reached a record high in nearly four months with more than 100,000 citizens currently hospitalised.
According to the latest data from the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Covid-19 hospitalisations was highest on January 14, 2021, with a high of more than 142,000 and they last topped 100,000 on September 11, 2021, reported CNN.
There have only been 67 days throughout the entire pandemic when more than 100,000 people have been hospitalized with coronavirus.
Currently, about three-quarters of hospital beds across the country are full, and one in seven are for Covid-19 patients, reported CNN.
There are more than 18,500 Covid-19 patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Nearly 78 per cent of intensive care unit beds are currently occupied, and about a quarter of them are for Covid-19 patients.
Hospitalization rates are currently highest in New Jersey, Ohio and Delaware, where there are more than 50 COVID-19 hospitalizations for every 100,000 people. They are lowest in Alaska and Wyoming, with less than 10 COVID-19 hospitalizations per 100,000 people, reported CNN.
Children worst-hit
Child hospitalisations are the highest they have ever been, with more than 500 children admitted each day over the week ending December 31, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to the latest data from the CDC, cumulative hospitalization rates through November are about eight times higher for unvaccinated adults and about 10 times higher for unvaccinated children ages 12 to 17, reported CNN.
Meanwhile, the US Food and Drug Administration expanded the emergency use authorization for Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine boosters to children ages 12 to 15.
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