Some major cities in the Northeast US, including New York, which was first hit by a wave of COVID-19 linked to the Omicron variant, are beginning to see the rate of pollution decrease, although the trend remains bullish nationally.
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These early signs seem to indicate that a peak has been reached in some places, following a pattern of rapid meteoric rise followed by a depression, already observed in South Africa or the United Kingdom.
Thus, New York recorded an average of 28,500 cases per day as of January 10, compared to 42,000 cases nearly two weeks ago, according to official data from the city.
The trend was also to slow down in Washington, DC, which was hit hard by Omicron.
The same pattern is in Chicago or in some states such as New Jersey or Maryland.
However, experts are keen to draw hasty conclusions, in the face of an unpredictable virus and the majority of countries are still recording increasing case curves.
The country is currently recording an average of 780,000 new infections per day.
The first cases of Omicron were identified at the beginning of December in the United States, and this variant, which quickly became the majority, sparked a fifth wave at levels not seen since the beginning of the pandemic.
Although omicron generally causes less severe cases of disease than the delta variant, it is also more contagious and thus leads to outbreaks of infection. Therefore, the percentage of people who become seriously ill is not insignificant in absolute terms.
Thus, the country is setting a record for hospitalizations, with nearly 160,000 people with COVID-19 currently occupying a bed.
On average, more than 1,700 people die from the disease every day in the United States.
