USA may record 142,000 COVID-19 hospitalizations

United States on Monday recorded 141,385 COVID-19 cases in hospitals with medical staff struggled to treat the infected patients amid an unprecedented surge of the coronavirus.

This number fell just short of the record of 142,273 cases which was reported on January 14, 2021, when the pandemic was at its peak in the country, The Washington post reported.

Meanwhile, Colorado, Oregon, Louisiana, Maryland and Virginia had declared public health emergencies or authorized crisis standards of care, which allow hospitals and ambulances to restrict treatment when they cannot meet demand.

Three days in the deadliest month of the coronavirus pandemic

There seems to be no respite as the corona cases continue to increase in the country.Nurses and other hospital staff continued to fall sick themselves, raising nurse to patient ratios in some places to high levels,reported the Washington Post.

But the highly transmissible omicron variant threatens to obliterate that benchmark. If models of omicron's spread prove accurate -- even the researchers who produce them admit forecasts are difficult during a pandemic -- current numbers may seem small in just a few weeks. Disease modelers are predicting total hospitalizations in the 275,000 to 300,000 range when the peak is reached, probably later this month, it reported.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in the United States surpassed 60 million on Sunday and has killed at least 837,594 people in the US since January 2020, according to research from Johns Hopkins University.

The United States remains the nation most impacted by the pandemic, with the world's most cases and deaths, making up around 20 per cent of the global caseload. It also accounts for more than 15 per cent of global mortality.

On November 9, 2020, the US COVID-19 caseload reached 10 million, crossed 20 million on January 1, 2021, surpassed 30 million on March 24. Furthermore, the caseload surpassed 40 million on September 6, and surpassed 50 million on December 13, reported the news agency.

Notably, the US on December 1, 2021, reported its first case of the 'Omicron' variant of the COVID-19. The case has been detected in the US state of California, Top Medical Adviser Anthony Fauci was quoted as saying by CNN.

The new variant Omicron is causing havoc in many nations and countries are resorting to stricter COVID protocols.