US registers more than 49.2 million COVID-19 cases, death toll of over 789,000

The cumulative number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States exceeded 49.2 million as of Monday, with the death toll surpassing 789,000, according to data released by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

Specifically, the country’s case count had risen to 49,277,447 as of 19:22 Eastern Standard Time (EST) Monday, with the death toll reaching 789,708, according to the CSSE tally.

So far, about one-third of the U.S. states have reported confirmed cases of Omicron variant infection. According to a New York Times report on Sunday, the U.S. detected a confirmed case of Omicron on Nov 23, earlier than the variant received a name from the World Health Organization (WHO), and even before South Africa reported the variant to the WHO.

The report said that Peter McGinn, a 30-year-old health care analyst from Minnesota is the case detected on Nov 23. He flew to New York City on Nov 18 for an anime convention and came back to Minnesota on Nov 22. He tested positive for COVID-19 the following day.

It wasn’t until Dec 1 that the Minnesota health authorities confirmed that McGinn was infected with the Omicron variant. His infection, announced by the authorities on Dec 2, is the “first known instance of Omicron spreading within the United States.”

About 53,000 people attended the anime convention in the three days from Nov 19 to 21. The report mentioned that about half of the roughly 30 people McGinn recalled socializing with at the anime convention have tested positive for the coronavirus, but it is still not clear whether they are infected with the Omicron variant.

In addition, Connecticut reported on Saturday its first confirmed case infected with Omicron, who developed symptoms of infection after contact with family members attending the anime convention in New York City.

With tens of thousands of new confirmed cases being reported every day in the U.S., the spread of Omicron can easily be hidden, the report noted.

A virologist at the University of Minnesota warned that the currently reported confirmed cases of Omicron are just the tip of the iceberg, and more cases infected with the variant will be soon reported across the country.

In addition to the risk posed by Omicron, COVID-19 infection among children in the U.S. is “extremely high”.

According to the latest report by the American Academy of Pediatrics on Monday, more than 133,000 child cases of COVID-19 infection were registered in the week ending Dec 2, accounting for more than 22 percent of weekly reported COVID-19 cases.

Since the beginning of September, nearly two million of child cases were reported in the U.S., which means that for 17 consecutive weeks, child COVID-19 cases are above 100,000.