New York shatters daily case record

NEW YORK: New York state shatters Covid record for new Covid-19 infections, reporting 85,476 cases on Saturday as the Omicron variant continues its lightening spread.

That number compares with a daily average of just below 6,700 new cases on Dec 1, according to data from Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg. The tally on Saturday was almost 9,000 higher than the day before.

New York City had by far the state’s highest rates of infection, with a seven-day average of 419 cases per 100,000 people. Hospitalisations also continued to surge on Saturday, up 532 patients to 8,451. The percentage of positive tests declined slightly, to 22.24%. Another 88 people died.