A new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study published Tuesday found that although the omicron variant has shattered COVID-19 case and hospitalization records, other factors have shown it's still less severe than other waves in the pandemic.
The highly contagious variant has pushed the U.S. to break 1 million cases in a day multiple times and the pace of reported deaths is currently above 15,000 per week.
But despite omicron seeing the highest reported numbers of hospitalizations during the pandemic, the ratio of emergency department visits and hospitalizations to case numbers were actually lower compared to the COVID waves from the delta variant and during winter 2020–21, the study says.
Intensive care unit admission, length of stay, and in-hospital deaths were all lower during omicron, the CDC report says, likely in part due to vaccinations and booster shots. 207 million Americans have been vaccinated during omicron's period, compared to 178 million during delta and only 1.5 million during the winter 2020-21 period.
Although omicron is seemingly less severe, its contagiousness is still stretching the medical system to its limits: the number of people with COVID visiting emergency departments was 86% higher than during delta, according to the CDC.
The federal government recently sent military medical teams to six states to help hospitals overburdened by the coronavirus, and governors have ordered the Ohio and Kansas National Guard to hospitals to help alleviate staffing issues.
The CDC report tracked data up until Jan. 15, when the rise in hospital admissions seemed to be slowing.
Also in the news:
►Only 40% of the U.S. population has received the extra COVID-19 vaccination dose, considerably lower than the 63% who are fully vaccinated against the virus.
►California Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers reached an agreement Tuesday to re-mandate that employers must provide up to two weeks of COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave. Last year's paid leave plan expired in September 2021.
►U.S. Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia has tested positive for a breakthrough case of COVID-19 and is working from home with "extremely mild" symptoms, his office said Tuesday.
📈Today's numbers: The U.S. has recorded more than 72 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 871,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Global totals: More than 357 million cases and over 5.6 million deaths. More than 210 million Americans — 63.5% — are fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
📘What we're reading: With symptoms ranging from breathlessness to blood clots to lack of smell, what has been called long COVID might actually be a constellation of problems not one overarching condition.
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Omicron's new variant cousin has arrived in the US
Don't panic yet, experts say.
Unlike two years ago when everyone was first learning about COVID-19, there are now many tools to combat the disease, and, like its cousin, omicron BA.2 is expected to remain relatively mild.
"I don't think it's going to cause the degree of chaos and disruption, morbidity and mortality that BA.1 did," said Dr. Jacob Lemieux, an infectious disease specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. "I'm cautiously optimistic that we're going to continue to move to a better place and, hopefully, one where each new variant on the horizon isn't news."
While COVID-19 cases have begun to decline in places like Massachusetts, where omicron hit hard late last year, cases of BA.2 are on the rise in the Philippines, India, Denmark and South Africa, Lemieux said. Cases have been reported in the United States, too – so far in California, New Mexico, Texas and Washington state.
It's not clear yet whether BA.2 is pushing out the original omicron variant, now referred to as BA.1, he said.
— Karen Weintraub, USA TODAY
Free N95 masks are on the way to store pharmacies. What to know.
As the government sends free COVID tests to households across the nation, 400 million free masks are also on their way.
Unlike the free testing kits which are ordered through a government website and shipped by the United States Postal Service, the free N95 masks will be available to pick up at “tens of thousands” of pharmacies and community health centers that have partnered with the federal government's COVID-19 vaccination campaign.
While the White House said the masks would be available for distribution starting this week, specific dates for all stores and locations are not yet available.
White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients said Friday it was the "largest deployment of personal protective equipment in U.S. history.”
Mask distribution has already started at Meijer and Hy-Vee stores and is expected at Walgreens later in the week. Read more about how many masks you can get, what pharmacies are offering free masks, and more.
— Kelly Tyko, USA TODAY
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