US records 151,915 new COVID infections thanks to Omicron but deaths drop by 72%
This sounds like good news.
Christmas Day COVID figures show that the United States has recorded a total of 151,915 new infections – just 39,000 fewer than on December 25 2020.
The latest figures from Johns Hopkins University show that on the same day last year, the US recorded 192,081 cases. One year on, diagnoses have dropped by just 26 per cent, largely due to the prevalence of the super-contagious Omicron variant now sweeping the United States.
On Friday, Florida also recorded its highest number of cases in a single day ever – 32,850, according to CDC calculations released Saturday.
Saturday’s report beat out the previous record set on Christmas Eve, where the state reported 31,758 cases, Miami Herald reported.
Florida’s seven-day case average has steadily increased since December 10 when the seven-day average was just 1,700, the Herald reported.
But figures also show the virus is now markedly less deadly than it was this time last year.
America saw 1,013 deaths in the most recent 24 hours, down 72 per cent on the 2,899 recorded for the same period in 2020.
Seven day average deaths are down too – they currently sit at 1,542, according to analysis from DailyMail.com, compared to 2,660 recorded for the seven days ending in December 25 2020.