They offer US $ 100 to get vaccinated against covid-19 2:15
(CNN) -
For the first time in two months, the United States averages more than 100,000 new cases of Covid-19 each day, shortly after millions of Americans traveled for the Thanksgiving holiday.
The seven-day moving average of new cases was 121,437 as of Saturday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
Before this week, the United States last passed the 100,000 case-a-day mark in early October.
The number of deaths from covid-19 is also on the rise, with a seven-day average of 1,651 people dying from the virus each day through Saturday, the JHU data showed.
The average daily death has not been that high in more than a month.
The vast majority of new cases in the U.S. continue to be of the delta variant, but U.S. health officials detected the new variant of the omicron coronavirus in at least 16 states as of Saturday.
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The first case was found in California on Wednesday, and by the weekend the variant had been identified in 15 other states: Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin.
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The omicron variant alarmed officials because early indications show it could be more contagious than the original strain, and the significant number of mutations it carries poses a potential risk of reducing some of the effectiveness of current vaccines.
Scientists are working to determine the gravity and transmissibility of omicron, but that could take weeks, authorities said.
There is an increase in covid-19 cases in the United States.
Still, the United States is more equipped now to deal with the newly detected variant than it was during the onset of the pandemic, Dr. Vivek Murthy, US Chief Health Officer, said Thursday.
"We are in such a different place now than a year ago because we have learned so much more. We have vaccines available. We have a lot more tests available, and what we need to do to get through this winter is to make sure that we are doubling down on our vaccination strategy." Murthy told CNN.
The director general of Health emphasized that, although there is much to learn about the new variant, mitigation efforts, including masks and hand hygiene, combined with physical distancing, are still effective in providing some protection.
Just under 60% of the total U.S. population is fully vaccinated, and nearly 23% of them have received a booster dose, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, for its acronym in English).
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The delta variant is still dominant in the world
While omicron has the potential to become the dominant variant in the US, delta continues to appear in 99.9% of coronavirus cases, according to CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky.
"We know what we have to do against delta, and that is to get vaccinated, receive a booster dose if you are eligible and continue with all those prevention measures, including the use of masks. And it is very likely that these [measures] act against the Omicron variant, "Walensky told CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
The delta variant managed to take over the entire country in the first weeks of summer, changing the outlook as vaccines were rolling out and becoming more available.
The variant continues to ravage key points throughout the country.
More than 59,000 Americans are hospitalized with COVID-19 in the US, according to data from the US Department of Health and Human Services, and overall, hospitalizations were on the rise for more than three weeks.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said the delta variant outperformed other variants in most countries, making it the most common strain in much of the world.
"Even if the omicron variant turns out to be no worse, we are losing about 1,000 people every day to the delta variant, and that in itself is a reason for people to get a boost," said Dr. Richard Besser, former director CDC Acting Officer, he told CNN earlier this week.
Stricter travel rules begin to apply in the US due to covid-19
Dr. Anthony Fauci said earlier this week that traveling during the end of the year holidays is fine, but getting vaccinated and getting a booster is a must.
"As I said and will say it again, if you have a vaccination situation, enjoy the vacation with your family in a familiar environment," Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in a CNN Global forum.
For international travelers, proof of a negative covid-19 test will be required within one day prior to departure to the U.S. Beginning December 6, the Biden administration announced Thursday.
Previously, a test could be carried out up to three days before entering the country.
Additionally, any foreign national traveling to the US must be fully vaccinated, although there is no vaccination requirement for US citizens to travel by air, either globally or domestically.
However, the White House said this week that the domestic travel vaccine requirement remained on the table as an option for the future.
- CNN's Deidre McPhillips, Jamie Gumbrecht, Jen Christensen, Maggie Fox, Travis Caldwell, and Naomi Thomas contributed to this report.
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