Hospitalizations in the United States due to COVID-19 infection have increased by around 33% and deaths have risen by nearly 40% from a week earlier, stated the head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Director of CDC, Rochelle Walensky, said that COVID-19 infections in the US, driven by the Omicron variant will likely peak in the next few weeks. She added that the magnitude of this surge is primarily tied to the Omicron variant which accounts for around 90% of the cases in the US now. Hospitalizations have also been increasing since late December; however, experts are of the opinion that Omicron will be less lethal than the previous strains. Walensky said that the current rise in COVID-related deaths is possibly a lagging effect of the Delta variant… (TOI – Reuters, January 12, 2022)