Omicron not peaking nationally yet, surgeon general says

COVID-19 is sending mixed messages. The U.S. is recording over 800,000 cases a day for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, and hospitalizations are also setting records. 

But New York State recorded only about 48,000 cases on Friday, almost a 47% drop from the previous week’s case count, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Saturday.

"We are turning the corner on the winter surge, but we're not through this yet," the governor said in a statement.

Minnesota also saw declining intensive-care hospitalizations for COVID-19, and cases have been falling in Washington D.C. and other cities in the eastern half of the country. 

But New York’s declining trend is not indicative of the national COVID-19 portrait, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy warned on Sunday.