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 COVID-19 infections have decreased in 19 states
https://graphics.reuters.com/
HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS/USA-OMICRON/zgvomadgmvd/
USA-OMICRON.jpg
plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, an analysis of the past week
through Thursday compared with the prior week showed.
In the Northeast, which saw some of the highest case loads during
the latest surge, infections are down 40% week-over-week.
"Certainly it bodes well for us in terms of the trajectory of
Omicron," said Wafaa El-Sadr, a professor of epidemiology and
medicine at Columbia University in New York City.
The drop was more modest at the national level
https://graphics.reuters.com/
world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps/countries-and-territories/
united-states, with new reported COVID-19 cases down 7%
during the same time period, according to the Reuters tally, as
Omicron surges in some other parts of the country.
COVID-19 data often lag a few days behind the actual state of
affairs.
In the Midwest, cases climbed 11% over the past seven days compared
with the previous week, and were up 2% in the South, although the
increase has slowed considerably in recent weeks. Western states saw
a 3% week-over-week drop in new infections, according to the tally.
Nationally, new cases are averaging a still-high 738,000 a day, down
from a peak of 805,000 on Jan. 15.
Deaths, which usually lag new infections by about three weeks and
are occurring primarily among the unvaccinated, are averaging more
than 2,000 a day, up 50% from the start of the month. That is
highest average number of COVID-19 deaths since the end of
September, but lower than the record of 3,300 lives lost a day in
January 2021.
COVID hospitalizations, also a lagging indicator, set a record on
Thursday at 152,746, according to the Reuters tally, but have been
showing signs of stabilizing at around 150,000 over the past week.
'NOT OUT OF THE WOODS'
"We have to be cognizant that we're not out of the woods, that
there's a glimmer of hope, there is light at the end of the tunnel,"
El-Sadr said. "That light is closer or further away based on who you
are and where you happen to be."
[to top of second column] |
 Many hospital systems across
the country are still struggling to cope with
the Omicron-driven surge. Last week, the
administration of President Joe Biden said it
was sending military health workers
https://www.reuters.com/world/
us/more-us-medical-teams-
bolster-states-omicron-surges-
2022-01-13 to hospitals in six U.S.
states to help fight the deluge of cases and
staff shortages. The federal
government also recently began providing Americans with access to
free at-home COVID-19 tests and will soon make millions of N95 masks
available after Biden incurred criticism that he was not devoting
enough efforts beyond vaccines to fight the pandemic .
The rapid spread of Omicron over the winter holidays forced many
Americans to put the brakes on plans for a gradual return to normal
life as the United States entered its third pandemic year.
Classes were canceled or delayed in some school districts, the ranks
of teachers and staff decimated by illness and safety requirements.
Exhausted parents
https://www.reuters.com/world/
us/exhausted-parents-navigate-
patchwork-us-school-covid-19-
policies-2022-01-14 were left to navigate a patchwork of
school COVID-19 policies while some students, feeling unsafe in
school buildings, staged walkouts
https://www.reuters.com/world
/us/omicron-fuels-surge-us-students-stage-walkouts-protest-in-person-classes-2022-01-14
demanding a switch to remote learning.
Businesses changed or postponed back-to-office plans, while the
sweeping surge forced entertainment venues and understaffed
restaurants to temporarily shut down.
However, the recent drop in cases in first and hard-hit states like
New York and New Jersey is not the only cause for optimism.
El-Sadr, the epidemiology professor, pointed to positive
developments in the current fight against the pandemic, including
that Omicron has proven to be milder compared to previous versions
of the coronavirus, the great protection of vaccines against severe
illness and the potential for mRNA vaccines to be adapted quickly to
new variants.
(Reporting by Maria Caspani; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Bill
Berkrot)
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