- Sputnik International, 1920
Omicron COVID Strain
The new COVID variant was initially detected in South Africa and Botswana and sparked major concerns due to its high number of mutations (32). The WHO dubbed the strain Omicron and warned it may prove to be more transmissible and dangerous than other coronavirus variants.

Amongst Record Cases Of COVID-19, More Than 1.1 Million Children In A Week Have Been Diagnosed

© AP Photo / Ted ShaffreyPeople line up for coronavirus tests on Wall Street in the Financial District in New York on Dec. 16, 2021. The explosive increase in U.S. coronavirus case counts is raising alarm, but some experts believe the focus should instead be on COVID-19 hospital admissions. And those aren't climbing as fast.
People line up for coronavirus tests on Wall Street in the Financial District in New York on Dec. 16, 2021. The explosive increase in U.S. coronavirus case counts is raising alarm, but some experts believe the focus should instead be on COVID-19 hospital admissions. And those aren't climbing as fast. - Sputnik International, 1920, 27.01.2022
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Reports have come in that more than 1.1 million children were diagnosed with COVID-19 in the week ending January 20. In addition to these climbing diagnoses amongst children, average COVID-19 death rates have also reached their highest levels since last year.
According to a report titled “Children and COVID-19: State-Level Data Report” from the American Academy of Pediatrics, almost 1,151,000 child COVID-19 cases were reported during a single week ending on January 20. Those numbers are up by 17% from the previous recorded 981,000 cases on January 13.
The same group has reported 10.6 million children have tested positive for the virus since the onset of the pandemic. And of those, 2 million are from just the past two weeks alone. Rates have been skyrocketing ever since the omicron variant took hold, becoming responsible for a majority of new COVID-19 cases.
The average number of COVID-19 deaths have reached their highest levels since last year, with a new seven-day average of 2,191 a day as of Monday. That’s an increase of 1,000 deaths since two months ago, according to Johns Hopkins University’s data. Before the omicron variant took hold, the seven-day average for deaths caused by the virus was 1,900.
Before vaccines were made available, the highest numbers of deaths caused by the virus had reached a daily average of 3,400.
Though the omicron variant has been shown to be less severe in causing death and severe illness, the rate of infection, as well as its spread, has resulted in overwhelmed hospitals, which were already stretched thin even before the start of the pandemic.
“You can have a disease that is for any particular person less deadly than another, like omicron, but if it is more infectious and reaches more people, then you’re more likely to have a lot of deaths,” said Robert Anderson, chief of the mortality-statistics branch at the National Center for Health Statistics.
The CDC’s data has shown that infection rates remain highest among the unvaccinated, with those catching the virus being the most likely in need of hospitalization.
Most children who test positive for COVID-19 do not need to be hospitalized. But as of January 5, 2022, more than 4,000 children were hospitalized with COVID-19, compared to Christmas Day when fewer than 2,000 were in need of hospital aid.
There are low vaccination rates among children, with those aged 5 and younger being ineligible for vaccination. As of January 25, 55.4% of kids ages 12 to 18 were vaccinated, and only 20.3% of children 5 to 11 were vaccinated.
The White House released a statement on Wednesday saying that COVID-19 vaccine regimes for kids younger than 4 years-old will involve at least three doses when it’s approved. That news comes the same day as Virginia reported their eighth child under the age of 10 had died from COVID-19.
Virginia is now seeing 11,126 new coronavirus cases as of Wednesday, and 83,236 new cases in the past week, according to the Virginia Department of Health.
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