COVID-19 Update

WaPo: (freebie)

More than 103,000 Americans hospitalized with covid, matching worst of summer surge

More than 103,000 Americans were hospitalized with covid-19 on Monday, according to Washington Post figures, the highest number since late summer, when the delta variant of the coronavirus triggered a nationwide surge in cases.

The figure reflects the 27 percent rise in covid-19 hospitalizations in the United States in the past week, while the daily average of new cases during the same period more than doubled. Average daily new deaths from covid-19 declined by 8 percent.

Hospitalization numbers better capture the pandemic’s impact than infection figures, said Anthony S. Fauci, the president’s chief medical adviser, while appearing on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday. The worst day of the pandemic for hospitalizations was Jan. 14, 2021, with more than 142,000.

Here’s what to know.

• President Biden will deliver “brief remarks” Tuesday about the omicron variant and stress the importance of vaccines, booster shots and masking, a White House official said.
• A majority of schools across the country are reopening for in-person learning this week despite the omicron surge, mindful of the academic, logistical and social-emotional disruptions that remote education inflicted last year and determined to avoid a repeat.
• The Food and Drug Administration on Monday authorized booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for 12-to-15-year-olds, and shortened to five months the time required between the second dose of the vaccine and a booster.