The omicron variant has fueled the biggest wave of COVID-19 the country has ever seen.
On Friday, the number of coronavirus deaths in the United States exceeded 900,000 after the omicron variant led to the largest wave of COVID-19 the country has seen.
The vast majority of states are seeing a drop in coronavirus cases, but every state is still seeing a "high" level of community transmission, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
More than 378,000 new infections are reported across the country on average each day, according to CDC data. Although this is a significant drop from the previous record of almost 800,000 cases reported on average each day in mid-January, it is still a higher number of cases than any other previous peak the country experienced.
But average daily deaths from COVID-19 remain high at more than 2,400 a day. The decrease in the number of deaths tends to lag behind the decrease in the number of cases and hospitalizations.
“While we continue to see large decreases in average daily case counts across the country, hospitalizations remain high, stretching our health care capacity and workforce to its limits in some areas of the country, and daily deaths also remain quite high,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said at a press conference Wednesday.
The record death toll, which is the highest toll of any country, comes as talk of the disease and the 'new normal' have gained momentum.
But experts warn that with such high numbers, the country is not there yet.
"We believe we will get there," infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said Wednesday. "We can't guarantee that there will not be another variant that challenges us, but the best that we can do with that is to be prepared for it."
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