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Washington (AFP) – The United States appears to be starting to ride off the wave of coronavirus caused by the omicron variant, Wednesday’s data revealed.
However, the number of cases remains much higher than during any previous wave of infections and Covid hospitalizations are at an all-time high.
The graph of sharp spikes (rapid rise and fall) could follow the same pattern seen in other countries affected by this strain, such as South Africa, Great Britain and France.
A seven-day average of new daily cases peaked at around 795,000 on January 13, according to monitoring by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Although the figures during the weekend and holidays, such as Monday, January 17, show a lower rate of case reports and should be read with caution, the numbers were already falling on Friday.
The declines were steepest in states hit first by the omicron wave, particularly in the Northeast such as New York, New Jersey and Maryland.
On the other hand, cases continued to rise rapidly in parts of the West, including New Mexico, Arizona and Utah.
Although omicron is milder in most cases than the previously dominant delta variant, hospitalizations remain at a high of just under 160,000 patients, partly due to the large number of people affected and partly due to infections. matching.
As for the direction the pandemic will take, many experts, including America’s top infectious disease official Anthony Fauci, are hopeful that the virus could continue to evolve into a more common but less serious pathogen.
© 2022 AFP
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