Worst-hit nation logs more than 1m cases, with business, society strained

NEW YORK－Entering the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States finds itself mired in chaos with a fast-spreading variant, with the effects ranging from hobbled businesses to delayed school reopenings. But worse is the human toll, with the infections count topping 1 million on Monday.

Also on Monday, The Wall Street Journal said: "The rapid spread of COVID-19's Omicron variant is weighing on US businesses, keeping more workers homesick or quarantined and leading some companies to cut services and reduce hours."

As of early Tuesday, the country registered about 1.07 million cases in the 24 hours. The cumulative total reached is almost double the previous record of about 590,000 set less than a week earlier in the US, according to Bloomberg. That figure was, in turn, a doubling from the prior week, the news agency said.

The rise of US infections to fresh records in recent days has resulted in thousands of canceled flights, prompted retailers to train available employees on new jobs or close some stores altogether, companies were quoted by the WSJ as saying.

Supermarket operators said that they anticipate Omicron's spread will drive increased absenteeism among cashiers, stockers and other employees in the days ahead, deepening staffing problems the grocery sector has faced for months.

The increasing pace of infections has led some retailers to temporarily close stores. Apple has limited access to New York City-area locations, including its Fifth Avenue flagship store. The tech giant closed all of its stores to in-person shoppers in New York City on Dec 27.

Some school systems extended their holiday break on Monday or switched back to online instruction because of the explosion in COVID-19 cases, while others pressed ahead with in-person classes amid a seemingly growing sense that people will have to learn to coexist with the virus.

Caught between pleas from teachers fearful of infection, school districts in cities such as New York, Milwaukee, Chicago and beyond found themselves in a difficult position midway through the academic year because of the variant.

On the medical front, there are at least positives in the form of the vaccines invented to combat COVID-19.From Pfizer to Moderna, a range of basic shots, boosters and tablets have extended the frontiers of medical science. On Monday, the US Food and Drug Administration cleared the Pfizer-BioNTech booster dose for children aged 12 to 15.

The booster dose is the same strength as the dose previously authorized by the FDA for emergency use for those aged 16 and older.

The vaccine advisory committee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to meet this week to review the FDA moves and decide whether to recommend the changes.

"The Omicron variant appears to be slightly more resistant to the antibody levels produced in response to the primary series doses from the current vaccines," said Peter Marks, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.

Holiday surge

Across the Atlantic, the Omicron variant has sent Britain's daily caseload surging over Christmas and the New Year. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday that the country's National Health Service will be under "considerable "pressure in the coming weeks.

In neighboring France, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said although the surge of the Omicron variant was disrupting some sectors there was no risk of it "paralyzing "the economy.

In Thailand, the Health Ministry on Tuesday called on people to come forward to get booster shots after Omicron cases had more than doubled over the holiday period. The country has recorded 2,062 cases of the Omicron variant so far, health official Supakit Sirilak said, up from 740 cases before the holidays.

Agencies - China Daily