Author: BlackMask Financial

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Walmart temporarily shut nearly 60 U.S. stores for COVID cleaning in December

https://youtu.be/XflggZ0ChCo

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Walmart temporarily shut almost 60 U.S. stores in COVID-19 hotspots in December to sanitize them against the virus, in a sign the new Omicron variant is disrupting the retail industry. The Walmart stores – in locations including Texas and New Jersey – were closed for two days for cleaning “to present a safe and clean in-store environment for our associates and customers,” a company spokesperson told Reuters in a statement. Walmart has more than 4,700 U.S. locations in total. The company made no comment on the potential impact of the closures. It adopted a policy two years ago at the start of the coronavirus pandemic of closing stores for fewer than two days to “get ahead” of potential outbreaks.

“We’ve been closely monitoring our stores across the country, making the decision to temporarily close locations on a store-by-store basis through a collection of market-related data,” the Walmart spokesperson said, declining to confirm that there were staff COVID-19 cases at the closed locations. The world’s biggest retailer also did not comment on whether it was seeing an increase in workers testing positive for COVID-19. The United States has seen a spike in cases of the Omicron variant, leading retailers and restaurant chains to temporarily shutter stores and limit access to customers. One Laurel, Maryland, Walmart facility was closed last week because that community was experiencing coronavirus cases, according to a memo shown to Reuters by two Walmart workers. They said several people at the store had contracted COVID-19, which Walmart declined to confirm. If COVID-related store closures disrupt Walmart’s operations into late January, they could begin to worry some investors, said John Augustine, chief investment officer at Huntington Private Bank, which invests in Walmart, Target and several other retailers. Walmart rival Target told Reuters it had not closed any Target stores for sanitization or other COVID-related reasons since the start of December. CVS said it had temporarily closed “fewer than 10 locations” for “enhanced cleaning” in that period. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that retailers “close off areas used by the person who is sick and do not use those areas until after cleaning and disinfecting”. The CDC does not strictly recommend shutting stores. Rising COVID-19 cases led Apple Inc to limit service at some New York-area stores, including its iconic Fifth Avenue flagship. The iPhone maker reduced operational hours from Monday to Thursday and limited the number of customers allowed into the store, according to its website. The site also showed that some Apple stores were temporarily closed in Georgia, Tennessee and California. It was not immediately clear why the stores were shut and Apple did not respond to a request for comment. Apple gets about 5% of its total sales from its retail locations, according to Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives. With 516 stores around the world, that amounts to about $35 million in sales per store, according to Reuters calculations. Some restaurant owners said their businesses have been affected, too. In mid-December, when COVID-19 cases began to skyrocket in New York City, pizzeria Bravo Pizza was forced to close for an entire day because six employees were out sick, Bravo’s owner said. Andrew Rigie, executive director of the New York City Hospitality Alliance, said “dozens” of the city’s restaurants had temporarily closed. Dan Jacobs, co-owner of DanDan and two other Milwaukee restaurants, said his locations lost $80,000 of business between Christmas and New Year’s Day as staff caught COVID-19 or called out because they were afraid of getting sick. NN: Something is going on. Do  get the feeling they are hiding how bad it really is.

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Covid-19 live updates: More than 103,000 Americans hospitalized with covid, matching worst of summer surge

More than 103,000 Americans were hospitalized with covid-19 on Monday, according to Washington Post figures, the highest number since late summer, when the delta variant of the coronavirus triggered a nationwide surge in cases. The figure reflects the 27 percent rise in covid-19 hospitalizations in the United States in the past week, while the daily average of new cases during the same period more than doubled. Average daily new deaths from covid-19 declined by 8 percent. Hospitalization numbers better capture the pandemic’s impact than infection figures, said Anthony S. Fauci, the president’s chief medical adviser, while appearing on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday. The worst day of the pandemic for hospitalizations was Jan. 14, 2021, with more than 142,000.

  • A majority of schools across the country are reopening for in-person learning this week despite the omicron surge, mindful of the academic, logistical and social-emotional disruptions that remote education inflicted last year and determined to avoid a repeat.
  • The first physical CES electronics show in two years will kick off this week, though organizers have shortened the tech event by a day, and several major companies have pulled out.
  • The Food and Drug Administration on Monday authorized booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for 12-to-15-year-olds, and shortened to five months the time required between the second dose of the vaccine and a booster.

     With coronavirus cases surging as winter break ends, some parents and educators in the Washington region are calling for a temporary switch to virtual learning or more immediate testing to avert classroom outbreaks and further spread of the highly contagious omicron variant. But the growing push for caution comes as many other families, school leaders and advocates are resolute that in-person learning go on as before, saying that students cannot afford to lose more in-person instruction than they already have almost two years into education’s biggest crisis. The clash is creating the starkest tension yet this school year about classroom-based learning as the pandemic rages on. For some, it is another tug-of-war between safety and education. For others it’s more nuanced.

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French scientists detect ANOTHER variant linked to travel to Cameroon

Déjà vu: French scientists detect ANOTHER variant linked to travel to Cameroon and say it carries 46 mutations that may make it more vaccine-resistant and infectious
  • Mutant strain has 46 mutations making it more vaccine resistant and infectious
  • Some 12 cases have been spotted to date, linked to travel to Cameroon 

Another Covid variant has been found in France, according to scientists. The mutant strain has 46 mutations that are thought to make it both more vaccine-resistant and infectious than the original virus. Some 12 cases have been spotted so far near Marseille, with the first linked to travel to the African country Cameroon. he strain was discovered by academics based at the IHU Mediterranee Infection on December 10, but has not spread rapidly since. It is yet to be spotted in other countries or labelled a variant under investigation by the World Health Organization. Professor Philippe Colson, who heads up the unit that discovered the strain, said: ‘We indeed have several cases of this new variant in the Marseille geographical area. ‘We named it “variant IHU”. Two new genomes have just been submitted.’ The variant has been dubbed B.1.640.2 and its discovery was announced in a paper posted on medRxiv. This has not been published in an academic journal. Scientists say the lineage is genetically different to B.1.640, which is thought to have emerged in the Democratic Republic of Congo in September. Tests show the strain carries the E484K mutation that is thought to make it more resistant to vaccines. It also has the N501Y mutation — first seen on the Alpha variant — that experts believe can make it more transmissible.   It is a distant relative of Omicron, which scientists say likely evolved from an older virus. The scientists say in their paper: ‘These observations show once again the unpredictability of the emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants and their introduction from abroad. ‘And they exemplify the difficulty to control such introduction and subsequent spread.’ France has good surveillance for Covid variants, meaning any new mutant strains are quickly picked up. In Britain around three in ten cases are checked for variants. Omicron — or B.1.1.529 — carries around 50 mutations and appears to be better at infecting people who already have a level of immunity. NN: with tens of millions being infected every few days its mutations gone wild. We are in for a rough time.. I beg you do not listen to the idiots and sold out politicians. Isolate is the best thing you should do. And the recommendation seems to be get a booster shot if you last jab was 4 or 5 months ago….

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The 1918 flu more relevant in 2022 thanks to omicron

Over the past two years, historians and analysts have compared the coronavirus to the 1918 flu pandemic. Many of the mitigation practices used to combat the spread of the coronavirus, especially before the development of the vaccines, have been the same as those used in 1918 and 1919 — masks and hygiene, social distancing, ventilation, limits on gatherings (particularly indoors), quarantines, mandates, closure policies and more. Yet, it may be that only now, in the winter of 2022, when Americans are exhausted with these mitigation methods, that a comparison to the 1918 pandemic is most apt. The highly contagious omicron variant has rendered vaccines much less effective at preventing infections, thus producing skyrocketing caseloads. And that creates a direct parallel with the fall of 1918, which provides lessons for making January as painless as possible. In February and March 1918, an infectious flu emerged. It spread from Kansas, through World War I troop and material transports, filling military post hospitals and traveling across the Atlantic and around the world within six months. Cramped quarters and wartime transport and industry generated optimal conditions for the flu to spread, and so, too, did the worldwide nature of commerce and connection. But there was a silver lining: Mortality rates were very low. In part because of press censorship of anything that might undermine the war effort, many dismissed the flu as a “three-day fever,” perhaps merely a heavy cold, or simply another case of the grippe (an old-fashioned word for the flu). Downplaying the flu led to high infection rates, which increased the odds of mutations. And in the summer of 1918, a more infectious variant emerged. In August and September, U.S. and British intelligence officers observed outbreaks in Switzerland and northern Europe, writing home with warnings that went largely unheeded. Unsurprisingly then, this seemingly more infectious, much more deadly variant of H1N1 traveled west across the Atlantic, producing the worst period of the pandemic in October 1918. Nearly 200,000 Americans died that month. After a superspreading Liberty Loan parade at the end of September, Philadelphia became an epicenter of the outbreak. At its peak, nearly 700 Philadelphians died per day. Once spread had begun, mitigation methods such as closures, distancing, mask-wearing and isolating those infected couldn’t stop it, but they did save many lives and limited suffering by slowing infections and spread. The places that fared best implemented proactive restrictions early; they kept them in place until infections and hospitalizations were way down, then opened up gradually, with preparations to reimpose measures if spread returned or rates elevated, often ignoring the pleas of special interests lobbying hard for a complete reopening. In places in the United States where officials gave in to public fatigue and lobbying to remove mitigation methods, winter surges struck. Although down from October’s highs, these surges were still usually far worse than those in the cities and regions that held steady. In Denver, in late November 1918, an “amusement” lobby — businesses and leaders invested in keeping theaters, movie houses, pool halls and other public venues open — successfully pressured the mayor and public health officials to rescind and then revise a closure order. This, in turn, generated what the Rocky Mountain News called “almost indescribable confusion,” followed by widespread public defiance of mask and other public health prescriptions. In San Francisco, where resistance was generally less successful than in Denver, there was significant buy-in for a second round of masking and public health mandates in early 1919 during a new surge. But opposition created an issue. An Anti-Mask League formed, and public defiance became more pronounced. Eventually anti-maskers and an improving epidemic situation combined to end the “masked” city’s second round of mask and public health mandates.

The takeaway: Fatigue and removing mitigation methods made things worse. Public officials needed to safeguard the public good, even if that meant unpopular moves.

The flu burned through vulnerable populations, but by late winter and early spring 1919, deaths and infections dropped rapidly, shifting toward an endemic moment — the flu would remain present, but less deadly and dangerous. Overall, nearly 675,000 Americans died during the 1918-19 flu pandemic, the majority during the second wave in the autumn of 1918. That was 1 in roughly 152 Americans (with a case fatality rate of about 2.5 percent). Worldwide estimates differ, but on the order of 50 million probably died in the flu pandemic. In 2022, we have far greater biomedical and technological capacity enabling us to sequence mutations, understand the physics of aerosolization and develop vaccines at a rapid pace. We also have a far greater public health infrastructure than existed in 1918 and 1919. Even so, it remains incredibly hard to stop infectious diseases, particularly those transmitted by air. This is complicated further because many of those infected with the coronavirus are asymptomatic. And our world is even more interconnected than in 1918. That is why, given the contagiousness of omicron, the lessons of the past are even more important today than they were a year ago. The new surge threatens to overwhelm our public health infrastructure, which is struggling after almost two years of fighting the pandemic. Hospitals are experiencing staff shortages (like in fall 1918). Testing remains problematic. And ominously, as in the fall of 1918, Americans fatigued by restrictions and a seemingly endless pandemic are increasingly balking at following the guidance of public health professionals or questioning why their edicts have changed from earlier in the pandemic. They are taking actions that, at the very least, put more vulnerable people and the system as a whole at risk — often egged on by politicians and media figures downplaying the severity of the moment. Public health officials also may be repeating the mistakes of the past. Conjuring echoes of Denver in late 1918, under pressure to prioritize keeping society open rather than focusing on limiting spread, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed its isolation recommendations in late December. The new guidelines halved isolation time and do not require a negative test to reenter work or social gatherings. Thankfully, we have an enormous advantage over 1918 that offers hope. Whereas efforts to develop a flu vaccine a century ago failed, the coronavirus vaccines developed in 2020 largely prevent severe illness or death from omicron, and the companies and researchers that produced them expect a booster shot tailored to omicron sometime in the winter or spring. So, too, we have antivirals and new treatments that are just becoming available, though in insufficient quantities for now. Those lifesaving advantages, however, can only help as much as Americans embrace them. Only by getting vaccinated, including with booster shots, can Americans prevent the health-care system from being overwhelmed. But the vaccination rate in the country remains a relatively paltry 62 percent, and only a scant 1 in 5 have received a booster shot. And as in 1918, some of the choice rests with public officials. Though restrictions may not be popular, officials can reimpose them — offering public support where necessary to those for whom compliance would create hardship — and incentivize and mandate vaccines, taking advantage of our greater medical technology. As the flu waned in 1919, one Portland, Ore., health official reflected that “the biggest thing we have had to fight in the influenza epidemic has been apathy, or perhaps the careless selfishness of the public.” The same remains true today. Vaccines, new treatments and century-old mitigation strategies such as masks, distancing and limits on gatherings give us a pathway to prevent the first six weeks of 2022 from being like the fall of 1918. And encouraging news about the severity of omicron provides real optimism that an endemic future — in which the coronavirus remains but poses far less of a threat — is near. The question is whether we get there with a maximum of pain or a minimum. The choice is ours. NN: You can not make stupid people smart.Don’t even try. You make yourself stupid by listening to stupid people. One  million people tested positive yesterday in America. Now calculate the people who did home testing and did not report and the ones who are infected and not tested and you come up with at least 3million newly infected in a day. A world record. So its safe to say the virus is out of control and the toilet paper and coffee filter N95 masks are not working. So its a must that if you must go out  to wear a proper fitting silicone rubber mask and ULPA canister  filter. Better yet isolate. And for the record the Omicron mutation will be shown to be as deadly as the other variants….. And to really make your day because its in wide circulation and its mutating.

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Wall St gains on first trading day of 2022; Apple hits $3 trln market cap

NEW YORK, Jan 3 (Reuters) – U.S. stocks closed higher on Monday, with Apple Inc hitting a $3 trillion market capitalization and Tesla Inc posting bumper delivery numbers, giving investors cheer on the year’s first trading day. Apple became the first company to reach that milestone and its shares ended higher. Tesla’s shares also climbed after the company’s quarterly deliveries beat analysts’ estimates, riding out global chip shortages as it ramped up production in China. The two stocks gave the biggest boosts to the S&P 500 . “Those are the two big drivers for the S&P,” said Paul Nolte, portfolio manager at Kingsview Investment Management in Chicago.But he and others said easing investor worries about the impact of the Omicron coronavirus variant also helped market sentiment, even with rising COVID-19 case numbers.

“The real news is people feel like this latest round of COVID is not going to be economically debilitating in that a lot of restrictions and lockdowns are going to be required,” said Stephen Massocca, senior vice president at Wedbush Securities in San Francisco.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized a third dose of Pfizer Inc and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 12 to 15. Energy and financial sectors also were among gainers. All of Wall Street’s main indexes ended 2021 with monthly, quarterly and annual gains, recording their biggest three-year advance since 1999. Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 246.83 points, or 0.68%, to 36,585.13, the S&P 500 gained 30.41 points, or 0.64%, to 4,796.59 and the Nasdaq Composite added 187.83 points, or 1.2%, to 15,832.80. Bank shares rose following a jump in U.S. Treasury yields on expectations of a series of U.S. interest rate hikes this year. Wells Fargo’s shares rose, also helped by their upgrade to “overweight” by Barclays. The benchmark S&P 500 added 27% in 2021 and reported 70 record-high closes, its the second-most ever, in a tumultuous year hit by new COVID-19 variants and supply chain shortages. The Dow added 18.7% for the year and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 21.4%. NN: The party continues…. give them enough rope to hang themselves

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Boris Johnson: ‘This pandemic is not over’

MINISTERS are bullish that there is no need to add any more Covid restrictions to fight the new Omicron wave.  No10 is set to review current restrictions this week but are not expected to make any changes. Health minister Ed Argar said hospitalisations are not crippling the NHS – although he expects them to rise but revealed that only 789 people on ventilators.  He said: “I’m seeing nothing in the data right in front of me in the immediate situation, that suggests a need for further restrictions.” “We need cool, calm heads. We need to look at the data and we need to do everything possible to avoid any restrictions – restrictions or curbs must be the absolute last resort.” The minister said Boris Johnson and Health Secretary Sajid Javid are monitoring the data every day. It comes as a string of hugely positive studies show Omicron IS milder than other strains, with the first official UK report revealing the risk of hospitalisation is 50 to 70 per cent lower than with Delta. Covid booster jabs protect against Omicron and offer the best chance to get through the pandemic, health officials have repeatedly said. NN: As is often the case we are seeing lots of questionable information. It takes weeks from the time people test positive for them to show up in the hospital. Its premature to declare Omicron less deadly. I hope and pray that is the case….. But we shall see what we shall see. In the mean time hunker down

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Covid 19 case surge is altering daily life

 

(CNN)The new year is starting with a massive influx of Covid-19 that’s different from any other during this pandemic, doctors say. “We’re seeing a surge in patients again, unprecedented in this pandemic,” said Dr. James Phillips, chief of disaster medicine at George Washington University Hospital. “What’s coming for the rest of the country could be very serious. And they need to be prepared.” Even health care workers are getting sidelined during the rapid rise of the Omicron variant, the most contagious strain of novel coronavirus to hit the US. “Our health system is at a very different place than we were in previous surges,” emergency medicine professor Dr. Esther Choo said. “This strain is so infectious that I think all of us know many, many colleagues who are currently infected or have symptoms and are under quarantine,” said Choo, associate professor at Oregon Health and Science University. “We’ve lost at least 20% of our health care workforce — probably more.” Early studies suggest the Omicron variant may cause less severe disease than the Delta variant, which still makes up a considerable portion of US Covid-19 cases. But because Omicron is much more contagious, the raw number of Covid-19 hospitalizations could get worse, Dr. Anthony Fauci said. “When you have so many, many cases, even if the rate of hospitalization is lower with Omicron than it is with Delta, there’s still the danger that you’re going to have a surging of hospitalizations that might stress the health care system,” said Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

The Covid-19 case surge is altering daily life across the US. Things will likely get worse, experts warn
And Omicron might be more problematic for young children, said Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration. “It does appear now, based on a lot of experimental evidence that we’ve gotten just in the last two weeks, that this is a milder form of the coronavirus,” Gottlieb told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “It appears to be more of an upper airway disease than a lower airway disease. That’s good for most Americans. The one group that that may be a problem for is very young children — toddlers — who have trouble with upper airway infections,” said Gottlieb, a current board member at Pfizer. “This new strain could have a predilection, again, for the upper airway, which could be a bigger challenge in young kids, because of the way it binds to the airway cells.” For the week ending December 28, an average of 378 children were admitted to hospitals every day with Covid-19, according to CDC data.
 “It may be the case in some school districts, where things are so raging right now in terms of Omicron for the next couple of weeks, and it may be prudent to delay things a couple more weeks,” said Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
“It’s going to be a very challenging time,” Hotez said. “People are going to have to be patient.” Across the country, the rapid spread of Omicron variant has impacted businesses, transportation and emergency services. “Omicron is truly everywhere,” said Dr. Megan Ranney, an emergency medicine professor at Brown University’s School of Public Health.
Holiday flight cancellations soar with Covid-19 disruptions and bad weather  
“What I am so worried about over the next month or so is that our economy is going to shut down — not because of policies from the federal government or from the state governments, but rather because so many of us are ill.”
NN: Dare i say another luck guess. As your barking dog has been warning you since August the super virus is here. Omnicron with 32 mutations to the spike protein defeats all masks except for our ULPA “ugly mask.” Call me old fashioned i can deal with ugly a lot easier then infected. Its time to hunker down isolate and shelter in place. If your last vaccine is 4 months old it might be time to consider a booster. My last shot is over 5 months old and i am “arranging” a booster shot this week. As far as another lucky guess is concerned as i have been telling you sold out politicians caved in to the travel, leisure and restaurant industry. They do not have the balls or the brains to lock her down.  And as you know i never expected lockdowns this go around but shutdowns. Forget testing positive so many people will soon be sick that the economy will suck shut. Mark my words you will see people dying in the hallways of hospitals no able to get the medical attention they need. Stupid stupid policies and inferior protections for medical staff will mean we are headed for an acute medical worker shortage…….
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Thousands of flights canceled around nation… Something ugly very ugly is happening out their

Contingency plans are being drawn up over fears a quarter of public sector workers could be absent due to the Omicron wave of COVID infections. It comes as secondary school students in England are again being asked to wear masks in classrooms. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has told ministers to test preparations for a possible worst-case scenario as daily coronavirus numbers continue to hit record levels. All government departments are also renewing their efforts to make sure that key workers get their COVID booster jabs to increase protection against the Omicron variant.

It follows fears that large numbers of Britons could be forced to isolate in the early weeks of 2022, causing chaos in public services, on transport networks, and putting further pressure on NHS staffing levels.

Some rail services in January have already been cancelled, or emergency timetables introduced, amid soaring staff sickness. In England, 24,632 NHS staff at hospital trusts were absent due to COVID reasons on Boxing Day, up 31% from 18,829 a week earlier and nearly double the number at the start of December (12,508). The total includes staff who were ill with coronavirus or who were having to self-isolate. Steve Barclay, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, is chairing regular meetings with fellow ministers to closely monitor the impact of Omicron on workforces and supply chains, as well on schools ahead of the return of pupils to the classroom after the Christmas holidays. The Cabinet Office said that public sector leaders have been asked to test plans against worst-case scenarios of workforce absences of 10%, 20% and 25%. Mr Barclay said: “As people return to work following the Christmas break, the high transmissibility levels of Omicron mean business and public services will face disruption in the coming weeks, particularly from higher than normal staff absence. “We have been working through the Christmas period to prepare where possible for this, with all departments liaising closely with public and private sector leaders who are best placed to operationally manage their workforces. “The best way to combat Omicron is to get boosted and I encourage anyone who is eligible to get boosted now.” A taskforce of civil servants based in the Cabinet Office is working on the contingency planning, with regular data being used to identify any potential disruption at an early stage. Last month, the government urged schools to ask ex-teachers to temporarily return to the classroom to help ease staffing shortages. In an effort to prevent a new “pingdemic” of millions of Britons being forced to isolate, the government introduced daily testing to prevent the widespread need for self-isolation where people don’t test positive. And the isolation period for those infected has been reduced from 10 days to seven days with two negative tests. Efforts have also been made to bolster staff numbers in the NHS and social care sectors, as well as to increase the number of HGV drivers. Labour accused the government of leaving contingency planning “to the very last moment” in the face of the Omicron wave of COVID cases. Angela Rayner, the party’s deputy leader, said: “The prime minister’s lack of leadership means his government has dithered and delayed, leaving contingency planning to the very last moment. “Boris Johnson should have instructed his ministers to start planning weeks ago, but instead he went missing for days on end. “With record COVID infection numbers, the prime minister must immediately get a grip on workforce pressures, keep essential services moving, keep schools open and keep people safe.

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Fauci warns of danger of hospitalization surge due to large number of COVID cases

(Reuters) – Top U.S. infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said there was still a danger of a surge in hospitalization due to a large number of coronavirus cases even as early data suggests the Omicron COVID-19 variant is less severe. “The only difficulty is that if you have so many many cases, even if the rate of hospitalization is lower with Omicron than it is with Delta, there is still the danger that you will have a surging of hospitalizations that might stress the healthcare system,” Fauci said in an interview on Sunday with CNN. NN: well they had their party. Now the bill is coming. Soon they will have to pay the pipper. Hunker down and be smart here. We now its going to be bad. How bad remains to be seen.

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US adds near-record 497,151 daily virus cases…… US children hospitalized with COVID in near-record numbers

The number of people who tested positive for the coronavirus in the United States increased by 497,151 over the last 24 hours, Johns Hopkins University’s data revealed on Saturday. A higher daily infections tally was reported only once during the pandemic, on the last day of 2021, when the single-day case count was above 500,000. During the last day, there were 1,235 deaths attributed to COVID-19, the data showed.

US children hospitalized with COVID in near-record numbers

SEATTLE — The omicron-fueled surge that is sending COVID-19 cases rocketing in the U.S. is putting children in the hospital in close to record numbers, and experts lament that most of the youngsters are not vaccinated. “It’s just so heartbreaking,” said Dr. Paul Offit, an infectious-disease expert at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “It was hard enough last year, but now you know that you have a way to prevent all this.” During the week of Dec. 21-27, an average of 334 children 17 and under were admitted per day to hospitals with the coronavirus, a 58% increase from the week before, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The previous peak over the course of the pandemic was in early September, when child hospitalizations averaged 342 per day, the CDC said. On a more hopeful note, children continue to represent a small percentage of those being hospitalized with COVID-19: An average of over 9,400 people of all ages were admitted per day during the same week in December. And many doctors say the youngsters coming in now seem less sick than those seen during the delta surge over the summer. Two months after vaccinations were approved for 5- to 11-year-olds, about 14% are fully protected, CDC data shows. The rate is higher for 12- to 17-year-olds, at about 53%. The issue is timing in many cases, said Dr. Albert Ko, professor of epidemiology and infectious diseases at the Yale School of Public Health. Younger children were not approved for the vaccine until November, and many are only now coming up on their second dose, he said. Offit said none of the vaccine-eligible children receiving care at his hospital about a week ago had been vaccinated, even though two-thirds had underlying conditions that put them at risk — either chronic lung disease or, more commonly, obesity. Only one was under the vaccination age of 5. The scenes are heart-wrenching. “They’re struggling to breathe, coughing, coughing, coughing,” Offit said. “A handful were sent to the ICU to be sedated. We put the attachment down their throat that’s attached to a ventilator, and the parents are crying.” None of the parents or siblings was vaccinated either, he said. The next four to six weeks are going to be rough, he said: “This is a virus that thrives in the winter.” Overall, new cases in Americans of all ages have skyrocketed to the highest levels on record: an average of 300,000 per day, or 2 1/2 times the figure just two weeks ago. The highly contagious omicron accounted for 59% of new cases last week, according to the CDC. Still, there are early indications that the variant causes milder illness than previous versions, and that the combination of the vaccine and the booster seems to protect people from its worst effects. In California, 80 COVID-19-infected children were admitted to the hospital during the week of Dec. 20-26, compared with 50 in the last week of November, health officials said. Seattle Children’s also reported a bump in the number of children admitted over the past week. And while they are less seriously ill than those hospitalized over the summer, Dr. John McGuire cautioned that it is early in the omicron wave, and the full effect will become apparent over the next several weeks. New York health authorities have also sounded the alarm. The number of children admitted to the hospital per week in New York City with COVID-19 went from 22 to 109 between Dec. 5 and Dec. 24. Across all of New York state, it went from 70 to 184. Overall, almost 5,000 people in New York were in the hospital with COVID-19. “A fourfold increase makes everybody jump with concern, but it’s a small percentage,” Ko said of the New York City figures. “Children have a low risk of being hospitalized, but those who do are unvaccinated.” Dr. Al Sacchetti, chief of emergency services at Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center in Camden, New Jersey, likewise said vaccinated children are handling the omicron outbreak extremely well. “It makes a big difference in how these kids tolerate the disease, particularly if the child’s got some medical issues,” he said. COVID-19 deaths have proved rare among children over the course of the pandemic. As of last week, 721 in the U.S. had died of the disease, according to data reported to the American Academy of Pediatrics. The overall U.S. death toll is more than 800,000. Almost 199,000 child COVID-19 cases were reported in the week of Dec. 16-23, the pediatrics group said. That was about 20% of the more than 950,000 total cases reported that week. While many of these children will recover at home, they may have contact with others who are at much greater risk, said Dr. Jason Terk, a pediatrician in North Texas. He cared for a 10-year-old boy with COVID-19 who managed the disease well, but his father got sick and died, he said. “The death of a parent is devastating, but the toxic stress for a young person in this situation is difficult to measure,” he said.