More than 103,000 Americans hospitalized with COVID, matching summer surge

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Tue, 2022-01-04 09:28 — mike kraft

Covid-19 live updates: More than 103,000 Americans hospitalized with covid, matching worst of summer surge The omicron wave is pushing hospitalizations into six digits, the highest since September amid the delta surge. Washington Post

More than 103,000 Americans were hospitalized with covid-19 on Monday, according to Washington Post figures, the highest number since late summer, when the delta variant of the coronavirus triggered a nationwide surge in cases.

The figure reflects the 27 percent rise in covid-19 hospitalizations in the United States in the past week, while the daily average of new cases during the same period more than doubled. Average daily new deaths from covid-19 declined by 8 percent.

Hospitalization numbers better capture the pandemic’s impact than infection figures, said Anthony S. Fauci, the president’s chief medical adviser, while appearing on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday. The worst day of the pandemic for hospitalizations was Jan. 14, 2021, with more than 142,000.

Here’s what to know.

President Biden will deliver “brief remarks” Tuesday about the omicron variant and stress the importance of vaccines, booster shots and masking, a White House official said.
A majority of schools across the country are reopening for in-person learning this week despite the omicron surge, mindful of the academic, logistical and social-emotional disruptions that remote education inflicted last year and determined to avoid a repeat.
The Food and Drug Administration on Monday authorized booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for 12-to-15-year-olds, and shortened to five months the time required between the second dose of the vaccine and a booster.

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The hospitalizations are primarily among unvaccinated people. According to the latest CDC data, cumulative hospitalization rates through November are about eight times higher for unvaccinated adults and about 10 times higher for unvaccinated children ages 12 to 17.

The rise in hospitalizations comes amid a much larger surge in Covid-19 cases spurred by the Omicron variant. Although early studies have suggested Omicron causes milder illness, the variant has spread so quickly and widely, hospitals are still facing challenges providing proper care.

"This narrative that it's just a mild virus is not accurate," Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, said Monday. ...

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