The slowing of Covid cases is continuing in the U.S., with cases now down five percent nationwide over the past two weeks, and it is starting to appear that mid-January was the peak of the Omicron variant's surge. The U.S. is now averaging 723,820 cases per day. Individual states are starting to see case shrink as well, with zero states now recording an increase of cases of more than 100 percent over the past two weeks.
Health experts have speculated that Omicron would peak soon. The rapid transmission of the variant caused cases to skyrocket, but also made sure it quickly ran out of people to infect. Data from abroad, and specifically the UK and South Africa, showed that the variant peaks quickly, then falls quickly, once it take hold.
Two weeks ago, the U.S. was recording 766,939 cases per day. Last weeks totals are skewed by the Martin Luther King Jr day holiday, and lagged reporting of cases throughout the week caused lower case number early in the week.
Despite the slowing of cases, deaths remain on the rise. The U.S. is averaging 2,122 new daily Covid deaths, up 30 percent over the past two weeks. Deaths often lag behind case by around two weeks. It appears that cases peaked at 806,364 per day on January 15, meaning it is likely deaths peak in the coming days as well.
Dropping cases nationwide is also being reflected in state-by-state Covid figures. According to official data, not a single state in the U.S. has had its new daily cases double over the past two weeks. Only two weeks ago, every single state in the country had experienced cases jumping by more than 100 percent.
States that were hit the earliest by the Omicron variant are seeing the sharpest decline as well. New York and New Jersey - the neighboring states that quickly suffered massive surges last month - are both recording two-week daily case declines of nearly 70 percent as the virus appears to subside.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made a bizarre move on Tuesday despite rising cases, halting the use of monoclonal antibody treatments developed by major pharmaceutical companies like Regeneron and Eli Lilly.
The agency notes the apparent lack of effectiveness these drugs have against the Omicron variant as the reason for the decision.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said earlier this month that Omicron was not causing many deaths in the U.S., and instead the lingering cases of the Delta variant were causing the most harm to Americans.
In the time since, the Omicron variant has almost totally overtaken Delta - accounting for more than 99 percent of active cases in the U.S. per CDC data. Deaths in the U.S. have continued to rise despite the
Monoclonal antibody drugs are highly effective against the Delta variant, and the main downside of using them is their expense and the high number of medical resources needed to distribute
