Nursing homes reported a near-record of about 32,000 COVID-19 cases among residents in the week ending Jan. 9, an almost sevenfold increase from a month earlier, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Indiana State Department of Health on Friday reported 15,926 new cases of COVID-19, the second-highest mark during the pandemic, trailing the all-time high of 16,563 on Thursday.
The White House said the four-test limit on website orders will be applied to each residential address and will apply to the first tranche of 500 million tests. It estimates that the cost of purchasing and distributing the first block of tests at $4 billion.
The Indiana State Department of Health released the latest statistics for breakthrough cases, hospitalizations and deaths on Thursday.
Two brand-new COVID-19 pills that were supposed to be an important weapon against the pandemic in the United States are in short supply and have played little role in the fight against the omicron wave of infections.
The federal government plans will double to 1 billion the rapid, at-home COVID-19 tests to be distributed free to Americans, along with “high-quality masks.”
The Indiana State Department of Health on Wednesday reported more than 15,000 new cases of COVID-19 and 125 additional deaths.
The reason: The COVID-19 variant has proved so wildly contagious that it may already be running out of people to infect, just a month and a half after it was first detected in South Africa.
Indiana Hospital Association President Brian Tabor said hospitals around the state “have reached a state of crisis with dwindling capacity left to care for patients.”
The shortages are widespread, impacting produce and meat as well as packaged goods such as cereal. And they’re being reported nationwide.
The company has climbed to the lead in global vaccine production with 3 billion doses in 2021 and is planning to produce up to 4 billion doses in 2022.
With the highly transmissible omicron variant spurring record levels of infections and hospitalizations, experts have repeatedly urged the Biden administration to recommend the better-quality masks rather than cloth coverings to protect against an airborne virus.
The move is a reaction to the severe hospital staffing shortages and crushing caseloads that the omicron variant is causing.
Under the new policy, first detailed to the AP, Americans will be able to either purchase home testing kits for free under their insurance or submit receipts for the tests for reimbursement, up to the monthly per-person limit.
COVID-19 patients occupy 37% of Indiana’s intensive care unit beds. The state has 12.6% of its ICU beds available overall.
The federal government has resumed shipping all three monoclonal antibody treatments—including one made by Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co.—that are authorized for early-stage COVID-19 to states despite evidence that two might be ineffective against the omicron variant.
The justices are scheduled to hear arguments Friday about whether to allow the Biden administration to enforce a vaccine-or-testing requirement that applies to large employers and a separate vaccine mandate for most health care workers.
Test manufacturers and distributors seeking to provide a share of the 500 million tests have submitted proposals to the government, and the Biden administration on Thursday evening awarded its first contract toward the purchase.
COVID-19 patients occupy 36.2% of Indiana’s intensive care unit beds, leaving the state with only 9.5% of its ICU beds available overall.
The state health department also reported 39 more deaths from COVID, raising the cumulative total to 18,644.
