PandemicPreparedness

CDC is reporting at least 53 million cases and 822,935 fatalities. All 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Republic of Marshall Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands have recorded cases.

Vaccination campaigns are underway. For individual state COVID-19 vaccination updates see CDC COVID-19 Vaccinations in the United States and click on the state.

For details about the locations which have detected the Omicron variant, see the separate Omicron in the US news thread.

More information: US CDC COVID-19 Updates; US CDC COVID View (weekly surveillance summary of COVID-19 activity); US CDC State & Territorial Health Department Websites, US CDC Vaccine Tracker, US CDC COVID cases caused by variants.

30 December

Several hospitals in Maryland have implemented “Crisis Standards of Care” (CSC). As the Omicron variant spreads, many areas have seen a surge in COVID-19 activity. According to the state government’s COVID-19 site, there has been a sharp increase in hospitalizations since mid-November. The current level is near that of the increase seen in December 2020 to February 2021.

The Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center activated CSC on 29 December. According to their news release, all six of the hospitals within the Johns Hopkins Health System have implemented the same, as well as some outpatient clinics and other health facilities. Implementation of CSC allows, in the extreme, rationing of care. This may involve limiting access to ventilators, ICU beds and other resources.

In addition to the Johns Hopkins Health System, the University of Maryland Upper Chesepeake Medical Center has also implemented CSC as of 24 December. A spokesman stated: "All UMMS hospitals have activated their surge plans and are working to reduce surgical volumes by at least 20 percent, as directed by Governor Hogan. While UM UCH may be the first in Maryland to formally implement CSC, they will not be the last."

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have provided a brief course for health professionals on Crisis Standards of Care.

The CDC also released a study that looked at hospitalisations among US children between July and August 2021 and found that vaccination significantly protects against hospitalisations in children with COVID-19. 

29 December

The American Academy of Pediatrics reports that COVID-19 cases among US children are high and increasing. During the week 17 to 23 December, the number of weekly new cases increased by 50% compared to the first week in December. Since the first week of September 2021, over 2.5 million children tested positive for COVID-19; that brings the total number of child cases to over 7.5 million since the start of the pandemic.

Hospitalizations have also increased recently in children with COVID-19, particularly in areas where Omicron has caused an overall increase in cases (i.e. New York City). Despite this, it appears that severe illness due to COVID-19 is uncommon among children. The increase in hospitalizations seems to be due to an overall increase in child COVID-19 cases, rather than the Omicron variant causing more severe illness compared to the Delta variant. Across the United States, 0.1%-1.8% of all child COVID-19 cases result in hospitalization, even though children represent 20.8% of the weekly reported cases.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends everyone ages 5 years and older get a COVID-19 vaccine to protect against the virus. Additionally, everyone ages 16 years and older are eligible for a COVID-19 booster shot. For children too young to get the COVID-19 vaccine, the CDC recommends that unvaccinated children 2 years and older wear a mask in public spaces and around people they do not live with.

The Omicron variant now makes up nearly 60% of all cases in the US. Previously, we reported the percentage at 73.2%. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have revised their estimates. As of 25 December, Omicron accounts for 58.6% of all cases, and Delta has reduced to only 41.1%. According to the CDC’s variant tracker, the southern and eastern regions of the US are more heavily impacted. The central states are the only region where Delta is most prevalent.

15 December

New daily cases have reached a plateau in the last week, with an average of around 117,000 new cases each day. Surges are continuing in the Midwestern and Northeastern states, particularly New Hampshire and Rhode Island. Cases among children continue to rise, with over 164,000 paediatric COVID-19 cases added in the week to 9 December.

Deaths have similarly stabilised in the last fortnight with around 1,140 daily deaths reported on average. Hospitalisations continue to increase across the country – on average 6,170 people have been newly hospitalised each day in the last week. Hospitals across parts of the Midwest are seeing the largest increase in admissions, with Indiana, Michigan and Ohio continuing to have high hospitalisation rates.

Cases in the USA are five times more likely to occur in unvaccinated people, with deaths 13 times more likely in unvaccinated people.

6 December:

Cases continue to increase nationwide, particularly in the northern states. Michigan is particularly affected at the moment. The seven-day moving average has been over 100,000 new daily cases since 3 December. Daily deaths have also increased over 150% since late November, with an average of over 1,150 deaths per day in the last week. Hospitalisation rates are also increasing again.

As of 2 December, more than 7 million children have been infected with COVID-19. Cases among children has remained high recently with over 100,000 cases in children each week for over 17 weeks.

While most of the cases are currently due to infection with Delta, the first imported case of Omicron was confirmed on 1 December. At least 18 states have detected Omicron cases in the last 5 days, see our separate news thread here.

More than 49 million cases and over 785,000 deaths have been confirmed.

See the November 2021 news updates here.