Washington: Amid the rapid spread of the new highly transmissible Omicron variant, the US has reported more than one million Covid cases in the last 24 hours, breaking previous records for single-day infection spike, according to health authorities.
As of 5 am on Tuesday, the country registered 1.07 million confirmed cases in the past 24 hours, which increased the country’s overall infection tally to 56,191,733, according to Johns Hopkins University.
The US remains the country worst hit by the pandemic, with the world’s highest cases and deaths (8,27,749). The number of new Covid cases has doubled in the last seven days to an average of 4,18,000 a day, local media reported.
“The US reported more than 2 million cases in one week, breaking yet another record as the Omicron variant surges across the country,” reported USA Today.
However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has decided to shorten the recommended times that people should isolate when they have tested positive for the virus from 10 days to five days if they don’t have symptoms, a move that drew criticism from some medical experts and created confusion among the public.
Meanwhile, new virus cases in Australia surged to record levels on Tuesday, increasing the strain on hospitals and testing centres across the country. In New South Wales, Australia’s most-populous state, 23,131 new cases were reported. There were 1,344 persons in hospitals, up 140 on the previous day and 78 more than the record previously set in late September. The new cases were detected from 83,376 tests, a positivity rate of 28 per cent.
Victoria state reported 14,020 cases on Tuesday, eclipsing the record of 8,577 set on Monday. There were 516 persons in hospitals, including 108 in intensive care.