The Omicron wave currently appears to be subsiding in several major U.S. cities. According to figures published on Friday, the number of registered infections in cities such as New York and Washington, which were the first to be affected by the new variant of the coronavirus, has recently declined. Nationally, infections continued to rise.
New York recently averaged 28,500 new infections per day, down from an average of 42,000 infections two weeks earlier. Health officials also recorded declining numbers in the nation’s capital, Washington, which was hit hard by the omicron, and in Chicago. However, experts caution against jumping to conclusions based on the numbers. In numerous states, the fifth wave has not yet peaked, they said. Nationwide, the numbers continued to rise.
The first cases with Omicron had been registered in the U.S. in December. While the virus variant generally results in less severe disease than the delta variant, it is significantly more contagious than its predecessor variants. The proportion of severely ill people is therefore not insignificant in absolute terms.
Currently, the U.S. averages 780,000 new infections per day nationwide. The country recently reached a new high with 160,000 occupied hospital beds. On average, 1,700 people nationwide currently die from covid-19 every day.
- source: derstandard.at/picture: pixabay.com
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