Covid-19 hospitalizations in the U.S.are following a pattern seen with cases by falling most sharply in some of the earliest hit states, particularly in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions.
Fifteen states and Washington, D.C., currently have confirmed and suspected hospitalized Covid-19 patient counts that are 20% or more below recent peaks, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of data from the Department of Health and Human Services.Several states are down more sharply, such as Connecticut at 45%, Maryland at 47% and New Jersey at 48%.In contrast, some states like West Virginia, Oregon and Arkansas are hovering near their Omicron-wave peaks for hospitalized patients, the data show.Hospitals have reported a high proportion of patients in the Omicron wave who tested positive during routine screening, but were admitted for some other reason, reflecting the large amount of community transmission from the easily spread variant.
Some physicians have cautioned against chalking up all of these cases as incidental, since infections can worsen other medical problems that may be more apparent at first.The Biden administration on Thursday broadened its efforts to distribute Covid-19 tests.People enrolled in either original Medicare or Medicare Advantage will be able to get eight over-the-counter rapid tests for free a month starting in the early spring, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said.The Biden administration’s requirement that insurers cover the cost of at-home tests didn’t originally apply to Medicare because the program typically doesn’t cover self-administered diagnostic tests under federal law.
Video: Major indexes end the day higher after huge turnaround (CNBC) All our brands are prospering as people look to get outside, says Vista Outdoor CEO I think we’re coming back down to life in Amazon’s e-commerce growth, says Joe Feldman ‘We think small-cap growth is the place to be,’ says Cresset Capital’s Jack Ablin I see an opportunity in Spotify if you can be a little patient, says Bryn Mawr’s Mills Oppenheimer’s Helfstein breaks down Meta’s Q4 earnings Housing wealth soars as home equity grows by 42% We believe Meta is a growth company, says Momentum Advisors CEO Allan Boomer Texas crypto miners power down to ease grid pressure The war for talent is on, says Recruiter.com CEO We’d like Republican support for president Biden’s Fed nominees, says Sen.Van Hollen Final Trades: Abbvie, Texas Instruments, Ranpak & more Big call buying in Costco We’re optimistic e-commerce trends will improve for Meta in Q2, says Raymond James’ Kessler Even if PayPal’s new strategy is right it would take multiple quarters to prove itself, says Josh Brown I’m buying on the dip in Facebook, says Kevin O’Leary Facebook made a strategic mistake changing its name to Meta, says Josh Brown The new initiative enables Medicare to pay certain pharmacies and other entities directly so that beneficiaries can pick up the tests at no cost at those select locations.Consumer advocacy groups and some Democratic lawmakers had pressed the Biden administration to find a pathway to enable coverage for Medicare beneficiaries, saying that seniors in the program should get free tests because they are most vulnerable to severe infection.Optimism that the worst of the Omicron wave may be over is also gaining a foothold in Europe.
French Health Minister Olivier Véran told French TV station BFM TV on Wednesday that “the worst is behind us,” amid signs the Omicron wave of Covid-19 has passed its peak in the country.The number of new daily hospital deaths in France—277 on Wednesday—fell from the previous day.The number of new admissions to intensive-care units for Covid-19 fell slightly from a week earlier, while the average number of new infections in the country has also been falling, according to government figures.Mr.
Véran said he hoped that the requirement for people 18 and older in France to show proof of vaccination for entry into venues like museums and restaurants could be relaxed in the coming months.“The vaccine pass will have an end, and given the current dynamics of the epidemic, it is likely that this end will be well before the month of July, unless there is bad news,” Mr.Véran said.Germany’s STIKO vaccination commission, which issues recommendations for vaccine use, said Thursday that it was recommending the recently approved Novovax vaccine for use in people 18 years old and older.The commission also said it was recommending a fourth mRNA vaccine for high-risk individuals or those who had frequent contacts with them.Those 70 and older, nursing homes residents, immune-depressed patients five and older, should get a second booster shot at the earliest three months and healthcare personnel at least six months after their third shot, the commission said.It said the recommendation was based on recent studies showing that immunity against the Omicron conferred by mRNA booster shots waned after a few months, especially in older recipients and those with compromised immune systems.Swiss healthcare giant Roche Holding AG predicts that the pandemic will come to an end this year, telling investors that it expects revenue from its Covid-19 treatments and diagnostic tests to decline by 2 billion Swiss francs, equivalent to $2.2 billion, to 5 billion Swiss francs this year.
Chief Executive Severin Schwan told reporters that although he expected strong Covid-19 sales in the first quarter, he predicted a slowdown in the second quarter and for the pandemic to shift to an endemic state—meaning that the virus no longer surges in large waves around the world—around the middle of the year.He added though that he’d been wrong before: in the middle of last year he told investors to expect a slowdown in pandemic-related sales, before the Delta and Omicron variants took hold.China has pushing ahead with construction of a series of fences and other barriers along its southern borders, ostensibly to prevent small traders and smugglers bringing Covid-19 into the country.Beijing has been trying to maintain a strict zero-Covid policy through stringent lockdowns and mass testing, stepping up its efforts ahead of the start of the Winter Olympics this week.
Some analysts suggest it could disrupt trade flows and the real purpose of the fortifications might be to deter migrants.Write to Nick Kostov at [email protected], Denise Roland at [email protected] and Brianna Abbott at [email protected].
