Covid cases rise by 948% in Florida as Omicron drives huge wave across US

Covid-19 cases in Florida have risen by 948% in just two weeks, as the highly transmissible Omicron variant drives a huge wave of infections and hospitalizations across the US.

Cases have risen by more than 100% nationally, despite tests being in short supply in many areas, and infections have doubled in the last seven days to an average of 418,000 a day, according to a Reuters tally.

In Florida, local and state officials warned that residents were waiting hours in sometimes miles-long lines just to get a test. Some accused the state health department and the governor, Ron DeSantis, of being missing in action.

The Food and Drug Administration decided on Monday that 12- to 15-year-olds should also be eligible for a booster, although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still needs to give the green light.

Some immunocompromised Americans are going back for fourth or fifth shots, though it is unclear whether doing so is safe or effective, the New York Times reported.

Dorry Segev, a transplant surgeon at Johns Hopkins University, told the paper that hundreds enrolled in a study he is working on have received unauthorized doses.

Most coronavirus infections on Capitol Hill have been occurring among the vaccinated, with the Omicron variant representing about 61% and the Delta variant 38%, based on a limited sample as of 15 December, Dr Brian Monahan told lawmakers and staff in a 3 January letter.

Some school systems around the US have extended their holiday break or switched back to online instruction because of the explosion in cases.

Others pressed ahead with in-person classes amid a seemingly growing sense that Americans will have to learn to co-exist with the virus, armed with the vaccines that help prevent the spread and mitigate the severity of illness and the evolving range of tested treatments.

Covid-19 has killed more than 820,000 people across the US. It has upended lives and livelihoods, disrupted education, left Americans feeling isolated, and at times sent the economy into free-fall.

Mass holiday travel was a predictable recipe for yet another surge, similar to last winter. But nearly two years into the pandemic, the US was still woefully ill-equipped for such conditions and the Omicron variant, sending Americans scrambling to even find tests.

Over the holiday season, thousands of flights were canceled because of Omicron-caused staffing shortages. Last week, the US smashed its record for Covid-19 infections reported in one day. Major companies are having to reconsider plans for employees to finally return to offices.

Yet some experts and analysts still hope that Omicron will ultimately represent a move toward normalcy, where Covid-19 becomes a long-term reality but causes less devastation.

Elkan Abramowitz, an attorney for Cuomo, said an investigation had concluded no laws were broken.