US COVID-19 deaths hit almost 4,000 in 24 hours

The United States has reported almost 4,000 deaths from the coronavirus pandemic over the past 24 hours as hospitalizations reached an all-time high across the country.

Citing health officials, the BNO News COVID-19 monitor said on Friday a total of 3,896 men, women and children were reported dead. According to the latest figures, COVID-19 fatalities have increased by 14.7 percent in the past seven days, the vast majority of which caused by the highly transmittable Omicron variant.

An average of 760,000 people are being infected with Omicron every day across the US. The hospitalizations have also reached an all-time high, two years after the initial discovery of the virus.

As of Thursday, nearly 159,000 people are currently hospitalized with infections across the country, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Some 21,000 people are being admitted to hospitals each day nationwide. There are more than 26,000 patients in intensive care units (ICUs).

In the meantime, the States is struggling with a political war over COVID-19 prevention measures, including vaccine requirements.

In yet another setback for the administration of President Joe Biden, a federal judge in Texas blocked the White House from enforcing an executive order requiring federal employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Biden’s executive order in September “amounts to a presidential mandate that all federal employees consent to vaccination against COVID-19 or lose their jobs,” Judge Jeffrey Brown wrote in a ruling.

Analysts say Biden has not made any great effort to stop the spread of the pandemic as he adopted the “herd immunity” policies pursued by his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump.

MG