US sets global daily record of over 1 million virus cases

In US, more than 1 million people were diagnosed with Covid-19 on Monday as a tsunami of Omicron swamps every aspect of daily American life. The highly mutated variant drove US cases to a record, the most -- by a large margin -- that any country has ever reported. Monday's number is almost double the previous record of about 590,000 set just four days ago in the US, which itself was a doubling from the prior week. 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 delta surge, when more than 414,000 people were diagnosed on May 7, 2021.

A substantial increase in coronavirus infections was expected when this week’s numbers came out, but nothing like this. About 1 of every 100 Americans have been reported as a positive case in just the last week, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The stratospheric numbers being posted in the US 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 canceled flights, closed schools and offices, overwhelmed hospitals and strangled supply chains.

While the US Centers 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. The silver lining is that deaths from Covid haven't similarly soared. Early studies show the omicron variant spreads faster than earlier strains but causes milder symptoms.