The U.S. is unlikely to suffer the same surge of COVID infections this winter as it did last year, when the omicron variant first emerged and swept across the country, senior health officials said Tuesday. Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, addressed reporters for the last time ahead of his retirement, saying that the combination of infections and vaccinations means there’s “enough community protection that we’re not going to see a repeat of last year at this time.” But Fauci urged those Americans who have not yet had their updated booster to do so quickly, telling them it’s the best one so far. Only 35 million Americans have had the booster since it was rolled out in September.
In the U.S., known cases of COVID are rising again with the daily average standing at 42,220 on Tuesday, according to a New York Times tracker, up 7% from two weeks ago. The daily average for hospitalizations was flat at 27,923, while the daily average for deaths is up 3% to 319. Globally, the confirmed case tally rose above 639.1 million on Wednesday, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins, while the death toll is above 6.62 million with the U.S leading the world with 98.4 million cases and 1,077,800 fatalities.
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