Hurricane Of Omicron Variant: United States Breaks COVID-19 Hospitalization Record, Reaching 132,000 Patients

Illustration of a patient. (Wikimedia Commons/Fars News Agency/Mohsen Atayi)

JAKARTA - The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in the United States hit a record high on Monday according to a Reuters report, as a spike in infections caused by the highly contagious Omicron variant disrupted health systems in several states.

There have been 132,646 people hospitalized with COVID-19, surpassing the record number of hospitalized patients of 132,051 in January last year, citing Reuters January 11

Hospitalizations have steadily increased since late December, doubling in the past three weeks, when Omicron quickly overtook Delta as the dominant version of the virus in the United States.

Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Vermont, Virginia, Washington DC, and Wisconsin have reported record rates of hospitalized COVID-19 patients according to a recent analysis.

While potentially less severe, health officials have warned that the sheer number of infections caused by the Omicron variant could strain hospital systems, some of which have suspended elective procedures as they struggle to cope with a surge in patients amid staff shortages.

The seven-day average for new cases has doubled in the past 10 days to 704,000. The United States has averaged more than half a million cases over the past six days in a row.

Meanwhile, only seven states have yet to record COVID-19 cases by 2022 - Arizona, Idaho, Maine, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, and Wyoming, according to a Reuters report.

Washington, DC, led the country in new infections in the past week by population, followed by Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Vermont.

To note, the death toll is averaging 1,700 a day, up from around 1,400 in recent days but within levels seen earlier this winter.