On Monday, more than a million Americans were infected with Covid-19 as an omicron tsunami swept throughout the United States.
U.S. cases rose to a record high, the highest ever documented by any country, thanks to the highly mutated variety. The number reported on Monday is more than double the prior record set barely four days earlier in the United States, which itself was more than double the figure reported the week before.
More than twice as many people have been infected in the United States in any other place since the outbreak began over two years ago. More than 414,000 persons were confirmed with the virus on May 7, 2021, during India’s delta spike, the biggest amount outside of the United States.
Since its discovery in South Africa just over one month ago, there’s plenty of time for things to change, according to scientists. A combination of extensive immunity and various mutations has culminated in a virus that produces significantly less severe sickness than prior generations, according to data collected in the last few days.
U.S. stratospheric figures are being revealed even as many Americans rely on their home testing, with findings that aren’t recorded to official government agencies, to determine their health. As a result, the record is almost certainly an understatement.
The newly-infected isolation at home is having an impact across the country, even if the increasing instances have not yet transformed into serious illnesses and skyrocketing mortality. The consequences include canceled flights, shuttered schools and workplaces, overburdened hospitals, and stifled supply lines.
Johns Hopkins University data may show an increase in rates because of a lack of tracking during the holidays.
Authorities are considering revising some of the procedures they’ve put in place to assist steer the country through this new phase of the pandemic due to an increase in cases.
Even if the isolation duration for asymptomatic Covid-19 positive individuals was reduced to five days by the U.S Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, the government may stipulate that they should wait for a negative test report before returning outside, officials confirmed.
Corporations like JPMorgan Chase & Co.. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are taking a more cautious approach to returning to the office, urging their staff to work from home at the beginning of the new year.
Researchers in South Africa discovered that patients hospitalized in their hospitals during the fourth wave of the aforementioned virus were 73% less likely to experience serious illness than those treated during its delta-dominated predecessor.
As per Wendy Burgers, an immunologist at the University of Cape Town:
“The data is quite solid now that hospitalizations and cases are decoupled.”
The good news is that the number of deaths caused by Covid has not increased in the same way. While the omicron strain spreads more rapidly than previous strains, research thus far shows that it is less contagious. The death toll may rise in the coming weeks, or evidence that the omicron surge will be much less devastating will hold up as even more, real-world data becomes available.