Why Omicron has made soaring COVID-19 case numbers less relevant

Testing center in New York City
(Image credit: Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images)

The number of new COVID-19 cases reported in the U.S. has tripled over the past two weeks, to a record-smashing average of 480,000 new infections a day, as the super-transmissible Omicron variant continues spreading around the country. The undulating infection numbers "have been one of the most closely watched barometers during the outbreak," The Associated Press reports. But in this Omicron wave, "the value of the daily case count is being called into question as never before."

With the unusually large share of asymptomatic Omicron infections or mild cases, "it is much more relevant to focus on the hospitalizations as opposed to the total number of cases," Dr. Anthony Fauci told ABC News on Sunday. "Hospitalizations are where the rubber meets the road," U.C. Irvine public health professor Andrew Noymer told AP. "It's a more objective measure," and "if I had to choose one metric, I would choose the hospitalization data."

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.