The arrival of the omicron in the US has not only caused an overwhelming wave of cases, but also led to a dizzying rise in hospitalizations for Covid-19. As of Sunday, the sum of admissions over the previous seven days has reached a record 142,126, according to data compiled by Our World in Data.
The number is 20.8% higher than the previous peak, exactly one year earlier, when hospitalizations reached 117,656. As hospitalizations increase, these patients arrive at hospitals that have been understaffed, on leave due to illness.
According to data from the New York Times, the District of Columbia leads among states, with 124 inpatients per 100,000 residents, a 195% increase from two weeks ago. Louisiana, on the other hand, saw the biggest increase, at 341%.
Even if those infected with the new variant have shown milder symptoms, those hospitalized with Covid in ICUs in the US are again on the rise, but still below the previous peaks of September and January of last year – the data has been available in Our World in Data since July 2020, not allowing an assessment of the beginning of the pandemic.
On Sunday, there were 26,630 patients in intensive care units, compared to 26,099 on September 7 and 28,891 on January 12, 2021.​
The new strain is still highly transmissible, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released an estimate this Tuesday (11) that the omicron is already responsible for 98.3% of new cases registered in the country.
This Monday (10), the US had a record 1.48 million cases – the moving average of the previous seven days is at 735,958, a level never seen before. A projection by the Institute for Health Metrics and Assessment (IHME), at the University of Washington, estimates, however, that this number is much higher, due to the likelihood of many infections going undetected, either because there are no symptoms. or for not having access to the exam.
Thus, the IHME suggests that the US may have already peaked at 6 million cases in one day, fueled largely by the omicron, and could still see a significant drop from that point by the end of the month.
Impacts on healthcare systems, schools and businesses, on the other hand, may not be resolved as easily, even as infections decline. The surge in cases and hospitalizations has forced Americans to cancel travel plans, disrupt cultural performances and disrupt back to school and offices.
The Red Cross has already declared a national blood bank crisis, with a 10% drop in the number of donors, noting that the pandemic has led to cancellations in donations and staff limitations. According to the organization, the number has been falling since the delta variant began to spread in the country in August, and the trend continued with the omni.
Despite the scenario, President Joe Biden defended his administration’s response on Tuesday. “[Estou] Confident that we are on the right path.” The CDC director was in the same vein and said that the country has the necessary tools to combat the highly transmissible variant. “We are working quickly to adapt,” she told the Health, Labor, Education Committee. and Senate Retirement.
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