US witnesses record high COVID hospitalisations with 1.5mn daily cases amid Omicron scare

The United States on Monday witnessed a record high number of hospitalisations from COVID-19, surpassing last winter's peak over the weekend. In addition, the country also crossed another grim milestone amid escalating tensions over infections from the new COVID-19 strain, Omicron, after it clocked 1.5 million cases in a single day. Until Sunday, at least 1,44,441 Americans were hospitalised with COVID-related complications, CNBC reported, citing data from the Department of Health and Human Services.

The number topped the previous high of 1,42,315 hospital admissions recorded around the same week a year ago. On Tuesday, the number claimed to be 1,47,000. Meanwhile, the country reported 1.5 million daily caseloads, making it the newest high and pushing the seven-day average to 7,54,000 per day, says data compiled by John Hopkins University.

'Artificially high'

As per a CNBC report, a large chunk of the COVID hospitalisations has appeared to stem from the people admitted for other infections along with COVID-19. The data has also sparked debate in the health community as many US states over the week began reporting weakened COVID testing data. Speaking to CNBC, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez noted that about half the hospitalisations are admitted "with COVID as opposed to COVID". On Monday, the NY State Department of Health reported that 42% of the hospitalised patients were admitted for something other than COVID. In addition, some national data is not even available since most states do not track meticulous details of the cases.

The developments come after Health advisor to US President Joe Biden, Dr. Anthony Fauci last week asserted that there is a growing body of evidence that suggests the Omicron variant is less severe than Delta. However, the average daily rise has continued to increase as at least 28 states reported escalating numbers of COVID-19 infections, coinciding with Omicron. "There is a lot of infection around the country right now and at the end of this probably 30% to 40% of the US population will be infected by Omicron," former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner and current board member of Pfizer, Scott Gottlieb told CNBC.

Nearly a quarter of hospitals in US face staff shortages

Meanwhile, with the huge rise in COVID cases coinciding with Omicron, US hospitals are reportedly facing 24% "critical staffing shortages." Public Health Experts from the US Department of Health and Human Services indicated that the hospitalisations were fuelled by the threat from Omicron strain. "Given how much infection there is, hospitals really are on the brink right now, Dr. Ashish Jha, Dean of Brown University School of Public Health told CNN. At least 1,200 hospitals out of 5,000 are facing a critical staffing crisis, the largest during the two-year-long pandemic. In the coming weeks, another 100 hospitals have been anticipated to experience similar situation in the coming weeks.

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