CHICAGO | More than a year after the vaccine was rolled out, new cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. have soared to the highest level on record at over 265,000 per day on average, a surge driven largely by the highly contagious omicron variant.
The previous mark was 250,000 cases per day, set in mid-January, according to data kept by Johns Hopkins University.
Colorado, too, has shown a marked increase in cases and positivity, according to state health officials. The positivity rate of test for Tuesday was 13.78%. Variant test results for the week ending Dec. 19 showed that the omicron variant was detected in 91.18% of all COVID-19 positive test results.
The state reported that 1,057 people were hospitalized with COVID-19, 81% of them unvaccinated. More than half of the state hospitals expected to have staffing shortages in the next week.
In Colorado, the 7-day average for new cases has climbed to 3,847 as of Dec. 27, according to state testing data. The peak last year was 5,040 per day on average. The average number of deaths has fallen dramatically to about 5 per day.
The fast-spreading mutant version of the virus has cast a pall over Christmas and New Year’s, forcing communities to scale back or call off their festivities just weeks after it seemed as if Americans were about to enjoy an almost normal holiday season. Thousands of flights have been canceled amid staffing shortages blamed on the virus.
The number of Americans now in the hospital with COVID-19 is running at around 60,000, or about half the figure seen in January, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.
While hospitalizations sometimes lag behind case numbers, the figures may reflect not only the protection conferred by the vaccine, but also the possibility that omicron is not making people as severely ill as previous versions.
COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. have climbed over the past two weeks from an average of 1,200 per day to around 1,500.
Several European countries, including France, Greece, Britain and Spain, also reported record case counts this week, prompting a ban on music at New Year’s celebrations in Greece and a renewed push to encourage vaccination by French authorities.
Just wonder if those 856 had been vaccinated where we would be on that same day?
Is there any connection between those unvaccinated and the vaccinated ?? who are now hospitalized? I wonder?
I know a household with 2 vaccinated children and 2 unvaccinated adults. All 4 have covid and are about equally mild symptoms. Vaccine doesn’t appear to have done much. They dont know what strain it was. I presume Omicron.