US COVID deaths exceed 900,000

Propelled in part by the wildly contagious omicron variant, the U.S. death toll from COVID-19 hit 900,000 on Friday, less than two months after eclipsing 800,000.

The latest bleak milestone came as omicron is loosening its grip on the country. New cases per day have plunged by almost a half-million since mid-January, when they hit a record-shattering peak of more than 800,000.

Cases have been declining in 49 states in the last two weeks, by Johns Hopkins’ count, and the 50th, Maine, reported that confirmed infections are falling there, too.

Also, the number of Americans in the hospital with COVID-19 has declined 15% since midJanuary to about 124,000.