New COVID-19 Cases In U.S. Soar To Record Highs

Daily Mail: Rampant Omicron becomes U.S.'s dominant strain: 377,014 Americans are diagnosed with COVID in 24 HOURS - one day after a record 512,553 caught the virus

* CDC made shock revision of Omicron prevalence, cutting the number of cases involving the new strain by half

* Omicron accounted for 23% of all cases in the week ending December 18, as opposed to 73% initially reported

* The Omicron variant accounted for 59% of all new cases for the week ending on December 25, CDC says

* It means that Delta has been accounting for far more infections than the agency initially thought

* Still, data from England warns that Omicron will soon take over, as the variant is now 92% of all cases there

* On Tuesday the US broke its record for daily COVID-19 cases, with a seven-day average of 264,546 cases

* The country's previous record was about 247,503 daily cases, reported on January 11, 2021

* On Tuesday, the US recorded 377,014 new cases and 2,377 deaths in 24 hours

* On Monday, 512,553 new cases were reported in the US, marking the country's largest single-day tally since the beginning of the pandemic

* The record-breaking figure was in part the product of a multi-day build up of unreported cases over the Christmas holiday on Saturday, which finally were logged to start the week

* Global COVID infections also hit a record high over the past seven-day period, according to data Wednesday

More than a year after the vaccine was rolled out, new cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. have soared to the highest level on record at more than 265,000 per day on average, a surge driven largely by the highly contagious Omicron variant.

And as the Omicron variant takes over as the dominant strain in the country, now accounting for 59 percent of cases, the US on Tuesday recorded 377,014 new cases and 2,377 deaths in 24 hours.

The country recorded a seven-day average of 264,546 cases on Tuesday, according to a DailyMail.com analysis of Johns Hopkins University data. The country's previous record was about 247,503 average daily cases, reported on January 11. Coronavirus deaths have climbed over the past two weeks from an average of 1,200 per day to around 1,500.

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WNU Editor: The CDC appears to be confused and (maybe) in chaos .... CDC significantly cuts estimate of omicron's prevalence in US (The Hill). More here .... CDC gets it SERIOUSLY wrong: Agency significantly revises estimate of Omicron prevalence in U.S. and now says it was only responsible for 23% of all new cases in mid-December - NOT 73% (Daily Mail).

Update: Will there be a US vaccine mandate for domestic flights? Some say maybe yes .... Fauci says U.S. should consider vaccine mandate for domestic air travel, but doesn’t expect it for now (CNBC). Some say no .... Vaccine Mandate For Domestic Flights Not Being Considered, Says CDC Director After Fauci's Proposal (Epoch Times).

New COVID-19 Cases In U.S. Soar To Record Highs

U.S. COVID cases hit record high, officials eye hospitalizations -- Reuters

New COVID-19 cases in US soar to highest levels on record -- AP

U.S. Covid cases rise to pandemic high as delta and omicron circulate at same time -- CNBC

The US just hit a record average of daily new Covid-19 cases -- CNN

US sets record for new daily Covid cases amid Omicron surge -- The Guardian

The U.S. hits a record number of new COVID cases -- NPR

New York logs highest COVID positivity rate since pandemic's early days at 20%: De Blasio insists his New Year's Eve bash WILL go on even as Empire State records 40,780 new cases with more than half in NYC -- Daily Mail

New York’s daily COVID positivity rate surges to almost 20% -- New York Daily News