Covid Live Updates: Omicron accounts for most new US cases
The extremely contagious variant of Omicron is now the dominant version of new coronavirus cases in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and has been particularly strong in some cities and states in the northeast, where growth in new cases has been particularly strong.
Omicron, which was first discovered overseas around Thanksgiving and identified in that country on December 1, now accounts for more than 70 percent of new cases in the United States, according to data Federal estimates Released monday.
The estimates underlined the rapid spread of the new variant. Two weeks ago, the CDC said Omicron accounted for only 1 percent of US cases; A week ago it was around 13 percent. Delta, which had been the dominant form of the virus for months, made up about 26 percent of new cases in the past week, the CDC estimated.
Omicron, discovered thanks to its signature combination of more than 50 mutations, has been shown to be highly transmissible – two to three times more likely than Delta – and less susceptible to vaccines than other variants. Early cases raised hopes that a milder disease than other variants could develop, but scientists say more research is needed.
In New York, the number of new cases increased by more than 80 percent in two weeks. In Washington, DC, where the mayor reintroduced an indoor mask mandate on Monday, more than three times as many cases are identified daily as in early December.
In Boston, where cases are also on the rise, Mayor Michelle Wu on Monday announced vaccination requirements for certain indoor spaces such as gyms and restaurants.
In a press conference Monday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city had to “move faster” in responding to the latest wave of new cases, but insisted that another lockdown would “have dire effects on the people.” . City.”
New York Governor Kathy Hochul called the spike in new cases Monday “a vertical surge” because “it’s going straight up,” but she didn’t announce any new restrictions. Ms. Hochul, a Democrat, appeared at her daily coronavirus briefing without the state’s health commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett, who tested positive for coronavirus in a rapid test earlier in the day.
Among the tens of thousands of new cases in the past few days have been prominent politicians and lawmakers such as Larry Hogan, the governor of Maryland, and Senators Cory Booker of New Jersey and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
The surge comes as many hospitals have reached capacity and governors in several states have mobilized the National Guard to help with hospital staff shortages. As Covid-19 cases rush into hospitals, health facility managers in several states have run newspaper ads asking local residents to get vaccinated.
“We need your help,” pleaded the heads of several health care facilities in Ohio a full-page advertisement in the Sunday edition of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “We now have more Covid-19 patients in our hospitals than ever before.”
As throughout the pandemic, the situation has changed across the country, although the overall picture is deteriorating day by day.
Some states are still struggling with the Delta variant, which devastated the south in the summer, while the Omicron variant appears to be driving the rise in the northeast. It is believed that people who have been vaccinated without a booster are more likely to be infected by Omicron.
The six states of New England – Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont – have some of the highest vaccination rates in the country, but are still seeing a worrying new surge in coronavirus cases.
Nearly 11,000 people in New England state now test positive for coronavirus every day, according to a coronavirus tracker for the New York Times. Almost all of these states have also seen increases in hospital admissions and deaths in the past two weeks.
Rhode Island, with one of the highest vaccination rates in the country, with 75 percent of people fully vaccinated, is now also the US state with the highest recent average cases per capita, according to the database. The number of daily cases has increased by more than 50 percent in the past two weeks.
In response, Governor Dan McKee announced that masks or proof of vaccination are required indoors from Monday. The state is too Add more vaccine testing sites for people before the holidays.
“Now is the time to act,” McKee said at a December 15 press conference after describing the current pressures on the state’s hospitals, health services and schools. “It is not the time to just sit and wait.”
Adel Hassan Reporting contributed.