US Omicron cases receding in big cities

The United States' Omicron wave is beginning to recede in New York and other major cities, official data showed this week, as France reported fewer hospitalization despite record cases.

The trend of explosive rises in Omicron cases followed by equally fast declines follows similar patterns seen in Britain and in South Africa, where the variant was first reported in late November.

In New York city, the seven-day average of new daily cases has been falling since around January 2, when they peaked at 40,000 a day -- an all-time record.

The figure stood at around 28,500 on January 10, still higher than anything seen in previous waves caused by other strains, an official tracker showed Friday.

Similar drops were visible in New York state, New Jersey and Chicago, the country's third-largest city, as well as in the capital Washington.

But the nationwide average is still rising, with more than 750,000 cases per day, as infections continue to shoot up in most states.

While milder for most people compared to past strains, the transmissibility of Omicron has meant the small fraction who become severely ill amount to a large number, overwhelming hospitals.

More than 157,000 inpatient beds are occupied by Covid patients, according to the Health and Human Services Department, a record high. The seven-day average of daily deaths is over 1,700, approaching the peak last seen during the Delta variant wave in September 2021, which was around 1,900 per day.

The all-time peak came in January 2021, when more than 3,400 people lost their lives per day.

In France, the number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care units has fallen for the second day in a row, despite a record infection rate, health ministry data showed on Friday.

France reported 3,895 Covid-19 patients were in intensive care units on Friday, 44 fewer than Thursday, and the second consecutive fall, despite the seven-day moving average of new infections reaching a new high of nearly 294,000 on Thursday.

In India, authorities yesterday reported 268,833 new cases of the coronavirus in the last 24 hours, taking its total tally to 36.84 million. Deaths from Covid-19 rose by 402 to 485,752, the ministry said.

Meanwhile, Australia yesterday said it has likely neared the peak of its Omicron wave, but warned daily infections will linger near record levels for "the next few weeks" after more than 100,000 cases were reported for a fourth straight day.

Having limited the spread of the coronavirus through tough restrictions earlier in the pandemic, Australia is now suffering record caseloads from the Omicron variant. Most parts of the country have shifted to a strategy of living with the virus as they reached higher vaccination rates.

More than 1.2 million infections have been recorded this year, compared with 200,000 for 2020 and 2021 combined.

Infections have dipped over the last three days while the rise in hospitalisations in worst-hit New South Wales, Australia's most populous state, has slowed slightly, official data showed.