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Arkansas reported on Saturday its biggest number of COVID-19 hospitalizations since the pandemic began in 2020. The increase in hospitalizations comes as the state continues to feel the surge of the omicron variant of the coronavirus. (1/23)

As new cases reported Friday in Alaska again shattered previous records, state health officials say the latest COVID-19 surge, driven by the highly contagious omicron variant, could peak within just a few weeks, based on trends they’re seeing in other states. Dr. Joe McLaughlin, Alaska’s chief epidemiologist, said on a recent call with reporters that in places like South Africa, Canada and the U.K., cases peaked recently and have since been trending downward. Nationally, according to Alaska chief medical officer Dr. Anne Zink, the country is making a “U-turn,” with hard-hit East Coast states trending downward significantly. Alaska tends to follow behind the rest of the United States, she said. (Berman and Krakow, 1/22)

Houston is poised to officially hit 400,000 COVID cases Monday, about a month after the city crossed the 300,000-case mark, as infections level off across the region. The Houston Health Department on Friday reported 3,286 new and backlogged cases to bring the total number to 399,987, including recoveries and deaths. That means the virus has infected about 17 percent of Houstonians since the start of the pandemic. (Gill and Mishanec, 1/22)

In less than two months, the Omicron variant of the coronavirus has spread around the globe and caused a staggering number of new infections. ... Scientists have been working overtime to study Omicron. Many questions remain unanswered, but here’s what they’ve learned so far. (Anthes and Corum, 1/22)

An unvaccinated COVID-19 patient flown from Minnesota to Texas during a legal battle over whether his ventilator should be turned off died Saturday, the family’s attorney said. A Minnesota judge had issued a restraining order on Jan. 13 blocking Mercy Hospital from turning off the machine that was keeping Scott Quiner alive, after his family sued the Coon Rapids health care facility. The family flew Quiner to a Texas hospital. (1/23)

What followed was a legal case that raised questions over who has the right to make wrenching life-or-death decisions when patients cannot speak for themselves. It also underscored the tensions between people who refuse the coronavirus vaccine and the hospitals that have been filled with patients sick with the virus, a majority of them unvaccinated. (Cramer, 1/21)