US reports 1 million Covid cases in one day

The US has recorded more than one million Covid-19 cases in a single day as delayed data from local governments from the holiday season was finally recorded and with the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the virus tearing through the country.

Monday’s record amount of new cases is the most reported by any country and doubles the US high reported just four days ago when 590,000 new cases were registered. That figure was also double the number recorded the week before as the country sees a staggering rise of new cases sees.

At least 1,042,000 new cases were registered on Monday, which includes data from previous days’ that were previously unreported, Bloomberg noted. The figures are compiled by Johns Hopkins University. They rely on reports from local governments, which can be uneven in updating their caseloads.

The figure reported in the US is more than twice the number of cases reported anywhere else in the world since the start of the pandemic. The highest number of new cases in a single day outside the US came on 7 May 2021 when 414,000 people were diagnosed with the virus in India during the spread of the Delta variant.

The giant new numbers of fresh cases come as Americans are increasingly using at-home tests, the results of which aren’t reported to official authorities, meaning that the estimated number of cases can be lower than the real number.

The rise in cases hasn’t yet led to a widespread increase in deaths but the effects are still felt as people isolating at home prompt flights to be cancelled and schools and offices to be closed. Hospitals are also becoming overwhelmed and supply chains disrupted.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently cut the isolation time for asymptomatic people with a positive Covid-test to five days, but officials have now said that those isolating may want to get a negative test before returning to public life.

The rise in cases is also prompting some companies to pull back on their plans to return to their offices.

Early studies of the Omicron variant suggest that while it spreads faster than previous versions of the virus, it’s not as deadly.

How the third year of the pandemic will look depends on if the number of deaths will rise alongside the increase in cases, or if the early indications that the strain is less deadly hold true as more data from hospitals and authorities arrive.

President Joe Biden was set to address the nation on Tuesday afternoon about the Omicron surge, following a briefing with his pandemic response team.

“In the briefing, the president will hear about the latest resources and personnel being sent to states and local communities to help with staffing needs and hospital capacity, and the ongoing work to expand access to COVID-19 treatments,” a White House official told media outlets on Monday.

“He will also hear about the latest data on the Omicron variant, including that while cases continue to increase, fully vaccinated and boosted Americans that get infected are not likely to have severe symptoms.”