There is still no peak in sight for the omicron variant, as the daily averages for cases, hospitalizations and deaths all rose, with hospitalizations climbing above 100,000 a day to the highest level since last January. The seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases spiked to 547,613 on Tuesday, up from 486,889 on Monday, up 254% in two weeks, and more than double the Jan. 11 peak of 251,232, according to a New York Times tracker. The average of hospitalizations jumped to 105,139 a day, up from 97,847 on Monday and 51% above levels seen just two weeks ago. Average daily deaths rose to 1,323 from 1,276 on Monday, but has slipped 3% from two weeks ago. Meanwhile, the number of fully vaccinated Americans grew to 206.58 million, or 62.2% of the population, while the percentage of children aged 5 to 17 years old that are fully vaccinated edged up to 33.6%, according to an analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. The CDC updated overnight its guidance for people infected with the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, including new details for people who want to test before leaving isolation. On a global basis, the total tally for COVID-19 cases climbed to 295.3 million as of Wednesday morning and the death toll rose above 5.46 million, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University. The U.S. leads the world with a total COVID-19 case count of 57.06 million and death toll of 830,284.
Source: Marketwatch
