Stratospheric figures
(Boursier.com) – The spread of Omicron in the United States is reaching record proportions. The USA recorded more than a million cases of Covid-19 contamination on Monday, taking into account, however, a certain ‘backlog’. This is almost double the previous daily record set four days ago at around 590,000 cases. “It’s also more than double the number of cases seen anywhere else at any time since the pandemic began more than two years ago. The highest number outside the United States occurred during the surge of the Delta in India, when more than 414,000 people were diagnosed on May 7, 2021, “Bloomberg notes.
These stratospheric numbers released in the United States come even as many Americans rely on tests they use at home, with results not being released to official government authorities. “This means that the record is surely significantly underestimated,” Bloomberg fears. While the increase in cases has yet to translate into serious infections and skyrocketing deaths, their impact has been felt across the country with the isolation of those infected. The surge in cases has also prompted thousands of flight cancellations, school, business and office closures, overloading hospitals and strangled supply chains.
“The outbreak is leading authorities to consider revising certain measures put in place to help guide the nation through the last phase of the epidemic,” Bloomberg notes. As the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shortened the isolation period to five days for asymptomatic people who test positive for Covid-19, the agency may add that they should get a negative test result before to venture outside again.
The epidemic is also forcing companies to stop their efforts to return to the office, companies like Goldman Sachs or JP Morgan adopting particularly cautious positions and encouraging staff to return to work from home for the start of the year.
Fortunately, the number of deaths has not increased in the same proportions over the recent period. Early studies show that the now dominant Omicron variant spreads faster than earlier strains, but causes milder symptoms.
Dr Anthony Fauci, the White House’s senior health adviser, told ABC (‘This Week’) on Sunday that US health officials may soon update the guidelines to include a recommendation for testing to report when a person has already tested positive. for the Covid could leave isolation. Fauci believes the US should focus less on increasing Covid cases and more on hospitalizations and deaths, which have seen much smaller increases.
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