Headline Roundup • December 16th, 2021
COVID-19 Cases Rise in Several Countries as Omicron Spreads
Summary from the AllSides News Team
The U.S., the U.K. and other countries have seen spikes in COVID-19 cases over the past week.
U.S. states with rising cases included New York and New Jersey, where CDC data said the milder but more vaccine resistant Omicron variant is spreading. While some highly-vaccinated states saw significant outbreaks, a Forbes (Center) report said, they still fared better on hospitalizations and deaths compared to states with lower vaccination rates. The coverage came as U.S. COVID-19 deaths topped 800,000 and worldwide deaths reached 5.3 million. The news prompted many public health officials and business leaders to consider re-implementing mask mandates and other measures.
Center and left-rated outlets like NPR (Center) and The New York Times (Lean Left) were more likely to feature this story on homepages. Coverage from the left was more alarmed by the surge, with CNN (Left) describing COVID-19 as “raging across the U.S.”
Featured Coverage of this Story
AFP /AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Covid-19 cases in the United States are skyrocketing as winter sets in, with some of the most highly vaccinated states—including four of the top five most vaccinated—fighting to contain the country’s worst outbreaks, prompting officials to reinstate restrictions and ramp up booster efforts to ease the burden on struggling hospitals.
Of the five states with the highest proportion of residents fully vaccinated against Covid-19, four—Rhode Island, Maine, Connecticut and Massachusetts, in positions two through five, respectively—are now battling the worst coronavirus outbreaks in the country, according to data collated by the New York...
Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times
Offices are canceling holiday parties. Broadway performances are being shuttered because of breakthrough infections among the casts. College finals are being moved online.
Coronavirus cases are spiking again in New York City, past anything seen since the end of last winter’s surge, and in much of the United States, where the Delta variant remains by far the dominant version. Across the country, the average of new cases a day has jumped to more than 120,000 — a 40 percent increase from two weeks ago, according to a New York Times database, and 70 percent more than when...
CONSTANTIN ZINN/EPA-EFE/Shutters
Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday announced a new set of precautionary measures aimed at reducing the spread of COVID-19 amid a “very substantial” increase in virus cases in recent days.
During a press conference in Prospect Park, the mayor rolled out a six-part plan that includes increasing the number of testing sites in the Big Apple and distributing KN95 masks to New Yorkers.
“We have seen very substantial increases COVID cases in the last few days,” he said Thursday afternoon. “It is clear that the Omicron variant is here...
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