It is also more than twice the case count seen anywhere else at any time since the pandemic began more than two years ago. The highest number outside the US came during India’s Delta surge,when more than 414,000 people were diagnosed on May 7,2021.
The stratospheric numbers come even as many Americans are relying on tests they take at home,with results that aren’t reported to official government authorities. That means the record is surely a significant under-estimate.
While surging cases haven’t yet translated into severe infections and skyrocketing deaths,their impact has been felt across the country as the newly infected isolate at home. The results are cancelled flights,closed schools and offices,overwhelmed hospitals and strangled supply chains.
The data from Johns Hopkins University is complete as of midnight eastern time in Baltimore,US,and delays in reporting over the holidays may have played a role in the rising rates.
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Revising Rules
The surge is leading authorities to mull a revision of some measures put in place to help guide the nation through the latest phase of the outbreak. While theUS Centres for Disease Control and Prevention shortened the isolation period to five days for asymptomatic people who test positive for COVID-19,the agency may add that they should get a negative test result before venturing out again,officials said.