For the second day in a row, the United States had a record number of new cases based on the seven-day average, with more than 290,000 new infections reported each day.
WASHINGTON - U.S. health experts on Thursday warned Americans that a rising tide of COVID-19 cases led by the Omicron variant threatens major disruptions to their lives, from schools to shopping, and urged them to prepare now for a challenging month ahead.
The surge comes amid increased holiday travel, with New Year's celebrations still to come, and as schools grapple with students' return to classrooms following winter breaks. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease official, on Wednesday said cases will likely rise through the end of January. He and other U.S. health officials have said early data shows Omicron appears less severe, but they have continued to push vaccinations, masks and physical distancing.
Rising hospitalizations as healthcare workers are sidelined with their own COVID cases is also concerning, as are fewer effective therapeutics, Hoetz said. "We're in for a pretty serious time."Already, 825,663 people have died in the United States from COVID since early 2020, data showed, with the latest wave of hospitalizations driven by those not vaccinated.
Still, Jason Greenberg, head of economics at Homebase, which tracks data for about 50,000 small businesses, said he expects the first week of January to be slower than projected before Omicron.
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