According to a report by the news agency Reuters, the United States reported at least 1.13 million new coronavirus infections on Monday, which was the largest daily total of any country in the world. This also indicated that the spread of the pandemic caused by the highly contagious Omicron variant is not exhibiting any signs of abetting.
The previous high in terms of daily infections of Covid-19 in the US was 1.03 million as of January 3 this year. Since many of the states of the country do not report new infections over a weekend, a substantial number of instances were reported on Monday. In just two weeks, the seven-day average for new cases has risen to approximately 700,000 new infections every day.
As of Monday, not all states had reported their weekend tally of new infections and therefore the final count is likely to be substantially higher.
According to the Reuters report, the number of hospitalized Covid-19 patients in the United States reached an all-time high on the same day, having doubled in three weeks.
More than 135,500 patients were admitted to hospitals with the disease, breaking the previous high of 132,051 established in January of last year.
While the Omicron form is thought to be less severe, health officials have warned that the sheer volume of infections might put hospital systems under strain. Some hospitals have already halted elective treatments as they battle to cope with an influx of patients and staff shortages.
The increase in instances has caused havoc in schools, which are dealing with staffing shortages, teacher absences, and bus driver shortages.
Because the district and teachers couldn't agree on how to deal with the rising infections, Chicago suspended classes for the fourth day.
According to the city's Twitter account, three metro lines have been shut down due to a large proprotion of the staff being unwell. Companies' plans to have employees return to work have also been thwarted.
Deaths are averaging over 1,700 per day, up from around 1,400 in recent days but still much below levels observed earlier this winter.
Pfizer Inc's CEO said on Monday that a new Covid-19 vaccination that particularly targets the Omicron strain is likely needed and that his company might have one ready to sell by March.
(Source:www.reuters.com)
The previous high in terms of daily infections of Covid-19 in the US was 1.03 million as of January 3 this year. Since many of the states of the country do not report new infections over a weekend, a substantial number of instances were reported on Monday. In just two weeks, the seven-day average for new cases has risen to approximately 700,000 new infections every day.
As of Monday, not all states had reported their weekend tally of new infections and therefore the final count is likely to be substantially higher.
According to the Reuters report, the number of hospitalized Covid-19 patients in the United States reached an all-time high on the same day, having doubled in three weeks.
More than 135,500 patients were admitted to hospitals with the disease, breaking the previous high of 132,051 established in January of last year.
While the Omicron form is thought to be less severe, health officials have warned that the sheer volume of infections might put hospital systems under strain. Some hospitals have already halted elective treatments as they battle to cope with an influx of patients and staff shortages.
The increase in instances has caused havoc in schools, which are dealing with staffing shortages, teacher absences, and bus driver shortages.
Because the district and teachers couldn't agree on how to deal with the rising infections, Chicago suspended classes for the fourth day.
According to the city's Twitter account, three metro lines have been shut down due to a large proprotion of the staff being unwell. Companies' plans to have employees return to work have also been thwarted.
Deaths are averaging over 1,700 per day, up from around 1,400 in recent days but still much below levels observed earlier this winter.
Pfizer Inc's CEO said on Monday that a new Covid-19 vaccination that particularly targets the Omicron strain is likely needed and that his company might have one ready to sell by March.
(Source:www.reuters.com)
