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The fast-moving omicron variant may cause less severe disease on average, but COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. are climbing and modelers forecast 50,000 to 300,000 more Americans could die by the time the wave subsides in mid-March. The seven-day rolling average for daily new COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. has been trending upward since mid-November, reaching nearly 1,700 on Jan. 17 — still below the peak of 3,300 in January 2021. COVID-19 deaths among nursing home residents started rising slightly two weeks ago, although still at a rate 10 times less than last year before most residents were vaccinated. (Johnson, 1/18)

For anyone getting complacent about the coronavirus because the now-dominant omicron variant typically causes less-severe disease than previous strains, here's a sobering thought: 50,000 to 300,000 more Americans may die of COVID-19 before the current surge ebbs in mid-March. Those are the projections of modelers, according to an Associated Press story, and they provide a grim reminder that omicron's remarkable infectiousness more than makes up for its seemingly softer punch. The seven-day rolling average for daily new COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. has been trending upward since mid-November, reaching nearly 1,700 on Monday – still well below the peak of 3,300 in January 2021. (Ortiz, Miller and Tebor, 1/18)

After Andreea’s mom died of COVID-19 in April, the harassment started. Noxious messages started coming in after she wrote a Facebook post letting friends and family know about her loss. One person messaged her to say they couldn’t believe her mother hadn’t protected herself. Andreea has since deleted most of the other messages, but she remembers people saying things like “I can’t believe your mom was an anti-vaxxer” and “I can’t believe she didn’t understand that COVID could kill you.” “Instead of people saying that they were sorry for my loss, they would question my mom’s medical choices. It became all about her vaccine status. It was incredibly hurtful,” Andreea, a language instructor, who asked to be identified by only her first name in order to prevent further harassment, told me. (Stanley, 1/18)

Despite some recent positive signs, a new report predicted on Monday that the U.S. could see a significant amount of COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths before the Omicron variant subsides. Using several predictive models, a team of analysts has predicted that around 1.5 million Americans could be hospitalized with around 191,000 being hospitalized from COVID as a result of the Omicron surge. The data accounts for a span of time lasting from mid-December, when the variant began to take hold, through mid-March, when it is expected to subside. (Kika, 1/18)

Mayor Eric Adams said on Tuesday that New York City was winning its war against the Omicron surge, noting that the numbers of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, while still extremely high, have started to drop. Mr. Adams encouraged New Yorkers to continue to get vaccinated and wear masks. (Fitzsimmons and Otterman, 1/18)