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The United States has reached a startling milestone in its fight against the new Omicron variant
The United States has reached a startling milestone in its fight against the new Omicron variant.
Over the weekend, the nation eclipsed 1,000 cases of the strain, with 221 infections being recorded between Sunday and early Monday morning.
The country has now joined a dubious group of five countries with more than 1,000 cases of the new variant, reaching 1,079 as of Monday morning - a 25 percent increase from the 858 cases confirmed on Sunday morning.
It comes as experts begin to learn more about the variant, which was first discovered late last month in .
Omicron is the most mutated Covid strain yet, with over 50 mutations total - including 30 on its spike protein. Early data shows it can evade protection provided by all three available Covid vaccines, though getting a booster shot can significantly shore up a person's protection against infection.
On Monday morning, Dr Ashish Jha, the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, told ABC's Good Morning America that America should move past trying to prevent infections, and instead work to stop hospitalizations and deaths.
'The goal cannot be to avoid infection at all costs,' he said.
'That's an unrealistic goal. The goal should be prevent deaths and severe illness which vaccines will do.'
As of last week, the variant accounted for three percent of active cases in the U.S., though the figure will likely be higher when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports figures this week.
The Delta variant, which caused a massive case surge over summer, accounted for 97 percent of cases that week.
No matter the variant, Covid is spiraling out of control in the U.S., though the growth of cases has slightly slowed over the past week.
As of Monday morning, 133,012 Americans are testing positive for Covid every day, a 21 percent increase over the past two weeks.
America's daily death total has remained steady over the past week despite the increase in cases. As of Monday, 1,296 cases are being recorded every day, a nine percent increase over the past two weeks.
Deaths not rising at the same rate as cases is a positive sign that the vaccines are still effective at stopping breakthrough cases from developing into severe cases.
Hospitalizations are increasing, though, with 69,387 people being admitted due to the virus each day - a 16 percent increase over the past two weeks.
The largest increases are being felt by Puerto Rico and Hawaii.
Both islands have been hard struck by this recent surge. In Puerto Rico, cases have jumped 619 percent over the past two weeks, though hospitalizations and deaths have remained low. Hawaii has experienced a 383 percent increase in Covid cases over the past two weeks - the most of any state - though the death rate has remained minimal.
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(image: ) (image: ) Dr Ashish Jha (left), dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, said that the U.S.
should focus on preventing Covid hospitalizations and deaths, as preventing all infections at this point is an 'unrealistic goal'. Dr Vivek Murthy (right), the U.S.'s Surgeon General, said that he is 'worried' about unvaccinated people as the Omicron variant begins to take hold in the nation
While more vaccinated people are contracting the virus during this outbreak, it is still believed that unvaccinated people are mush more likely to suffer severe infection or death from Covid.
Dr Vivek Murthy, the U.S. surgeon general, told CBS Mornings on Monday that the unvaccinated are in deep danger.
Florida has also reported a 226 percent increase in Covid cases over the past two weeks, though figures from the state may be unreliable as it does not regularly report data.
Washington D.C., which has proven to be another hotspot, has also recorded a 252 percent case increase over the past two weeks.
'There will be a stark difference between those that are vaccinated and boosted, and those that are unvaccinated,' he said.
'With those have maximal protection from a vaccination and boost, you either won't get infected or if you get an infection it will be most likely mild.
'But if you are unvaccinated I am worried about you.
I'm worried that your risk of being hospitalized or, God-forbid, losing your life to this virus is quite significant.'
White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients issued a stark warning on Friday as well.
'For the unvaccinated, you're looking at a wi (image: ) (image: )
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Data revealed by Moderna, manufacturer of the nation's second most commonly used vaccine, shows that its booster shot increases the availability of Omicron fighting antibodies 40-fold in people that are fully vaccinated.
It matched similar date release by Pfizer earlier this month, reporting that a booster dose can re-establish protection against the vaccine evasive strain.
Another study last week found that the one-dose J&J vaccine provided little to no protection against infection from Omicron. Data on the company's booster shot is not yet available.
Hawaii is currently the U.S.
leader in growth of cases, up 383 percent over the last two weeks. Hospitalizations have not kept pace, though, only growing six percent during that time span, a sign that the 63 percent of the population that is vaccinated has some protection from the virus.
(image: http://pidkazka.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/cropped-Pidkazka_logo-min.png) (226 percent increase in cases over the past two weeks) and (137 percent increase) have also seen cases more than double over the past two weeks, with the latter also suffering a 69 percent increase in hospitalizations in that time despite 74 percent of the population being fully vaccinated.
New York and New Jersey are the states believed to have the largest prevalence of the new variant, and both are experiencing an increase in cases as well. Most recent data published by the last Tuesday estimates that a combined 13 percent of cases in the two states are of the Omicron variant - far outpacing the 2.9 percent national rate and every other region.
Both are suffering sharp increases in cases as well, with New York posting an 82 percent increase in cases over the past two weeks, and New Jersey up 66 percent.
The country as a whole is not suffering a Covid surge, though, with the virus even starting to recede in some areas.
States in both the Northeast and Great Plains - both regions that experienced a sharp increase in Covid cases in early fall - are now seeing those surges decline.
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Currently, states in the Northeast are leading America's COVID-19 surge, but case growth is starting to settle.
Rhode Island, for example, is recording the most new cases per 100,000 residents as on Monday morning, at 101. The state that was once experiencing a doubling of cases over two weeks is now only seeing 53 percent growth, though, as the virus starts to slow down.
New Hampshire is averaging 90 new cases out of every 100,000 residents every day, second in the nation and a 12 percent increase from previous weeks.
It appears that its surge is nearing its peak as well, though, as case growth as slowed to a halt in recent days.
Vermont has the highest vaccination rate in America - with Rhode Island and New Hampshire following just behind - with 76 percent of residents fully vaccinated.
The state was the site of one of the largest Covid surges in the nation only weeks ago, but now things are trending in the right direction.
The state is still averaging a relatively high 65 out of every 100,000 residents testing positive for the virus every day, tenth in the country, but new cases have shrunk by six percent over the past two weeks.
Other states in the region that are starting to see case growth slow, and even Connecticut which currently holds the 'worst outbreak in America' honor, should see Vermont as a promising sign for the future.
Out west, states in the Great Plains are seeing massive decreases in weekly case rate.
Unlike their counterparts in the east, which have vaccination rates upwards of 70 percent, these states have some of the lowest vaccination rates in the country.
Montana, which has only fully vaccinated 54 percent of its residents, 2022 фільми онлайн has seen daily cases drop 53 percent, and has one of the lowest infection rates in America with 14 of every 100,000 residents testing positive every day.
Wyoming and Idaho are the two least vaccinated states in America, with 47 percent and 46 percent of their populations jabbed respectively.
Both have managed to control the spread of the virus in recent weeks, though, with cases down 40 percent in Wyoming and 18 percent in Idaho.
Both are also recording 18 positive tests every day per 100,000 residents, also among the lowest rate in America.
States in the region were being hammered by Covid only a few months ago.
From Washington on the Pacific Northwest coast to Michigan in the eastern time zone, the states up north went through the ringer in October. The virus seems to have burned out in the western half of America, though, quelling some fears that the rise of Omicron would make an already disastrous situation even worse.
Even Michigan, a state that had its hospitals sent into a crisis due to rising case earlier this month, is recording a 15 percent decrease in cases in recent weeks.
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Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Arizona and Oregon - all in the Midwest, plains, southwest or pacific regions of America - have recorded decreases in cases over the past two weeks. Washington and California are reporting minor increases of eight percent and four percent respectively.
This all comes as the Omicron variant lands in the U.S., and was expected to near-instantly cause case surges nationwide.
The highly transmissible variant is certainly in America, accounting for three percent of cases two weeks ago and having been confirmed over 1,000 times as of Monday morning.
It has not made the massive impact it was expected to yet, though.
The variant was known to in the United States as early as November 19, as a Minnesota man contracted the virus then from another person at an anime convention in New York City.
Now a month since the first recorded transmission of the variant within the U.S., only small select areas are suffering from surges.
America's Covid situation is not rosy everywhere, though.
In addition to New York and New Jersey, some southern states are experiencing surges as well.
Florida has experienced a 226 percent increase in cases over the past two weeks. Georgia (66 percent increase in cases), Louisiana (63 percent), Mississippi (50 percent) and Virginia (50 percent) are posting sharp increases as well.
While some of these states are still reporting low cases totals per capita, these upward swings are a worrying sign that they are experiencing the early stages of an Omicron outbreak.
In the Midwest, Illinois may be suffering a large scale outbreak soon as well, with cases up 53 percent over two weeks as the rest of the region sees a decline in case growth.
Over in the UK, the world leader in confirmed Omicron cases - with 37,101 sequenced - continues to reel in the wake of a new wave of the virus.
Neil Ferguson, one of the nation's top epidemiologists warns that the country could face 5,000 deaths from the variant every day and the National Health Service (NHS) could be overwhelmed if a new lockdown is not imposed.
The new strain is now also the dominant variant in the UK.
Also among the global Omicron leaders in Denmark, with 15,452 confirmed cases, may soon go into another lockdown with capacity restrictions in many venues and the closure of some event spaces like theatres to handle a record surge in the Nordic nation.
Norway has confirmed 3,394 cases, and has entered partial lockdown of its own. The country was among the first to experience an outbreak tied to the variant after a holiday party by a local energy company in Cape Town, South Africa, brought dozens of cases of the variant back into Norway.
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'It still remains the case that getting vaccinated and boosted is the best way to protect yourself, even against Omicron,' Murthy said.
<div class="art-ins mol-factbox health halfRHS" data-version="2" id="mol-952a8ff0-61a7-11ec-b4e0-d1a7f99f17f4" website surpasses 1,000 confirmed cases of the Omicron variant
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