The United States has recorded a record number of new Covid cases in a single day, reaching more than one million.
The record amount reached earlier this week is the most reported by any country, and double the amount that the U.S. reported as its record high only a few days prior at 590,000 cases. The latest number is part of a staggering trend in rising numbers, both within the U.S. and around the world.
On a global scale, the number is double the number of cases that were reported in a single day anywhere else in the world since the beginning of the Covid pandemic.
Outside of the U.S., the highest number of new cases in a day was reached in India in May 2021 with 414,000 new cases. This was during the height of the Delta variant.
The rise in cases has not yet been linked to an increase in deaths, showing that the Omicron variant may be less severe than previous variants and their surges. But it has meant a lot of people needing to isolate themselves at home, leading to damage to different industries. One industry that has felt the surge this time around is the travel industry, especially airlines, which have been forced to cancel flights due to staff shortages.
Hospitals are also becoming increasingly overwhelmed, and supply chains of medical needs are being disrupted due to staff shortages.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) halved the isolation time recently down to five days for people not showing symptoms but have a positive Covid test. Officials have said that people may want to get a negative test while isolating before returning to the public, but have stopped short of making this a mandatory rule.
President Joe Biden on Tuesday urged more vaccines and booster shots in order to slow the numbers. He said that the unvaccinated are primarily taking up all of the hospital beds and responsible for overwhelming emergency rooms and intensive care units.
Studies have shown that those who receive vaccinations and then contract Covid suffer from a much less severe Covid, and that vaccinated people are less likely to be hospitalized or die.
Be the first to comment