US Covid surge is big risk and is ‘not being taken seriously’ | First Thing

Fewer precautions, recent holidays and subvariants have driven rise but boosters, masks and other measures still effective. Plus, will Donald Trump be allowed to return to Facebook?

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Good morning.

In the fourth year of the pandemic, Covid-19 is once again spreading across the US and is being driven by the recent holidays, fewer precautions and the continuing evolution of Omicron subvariants.

How big is the increase? Covid deaths rose by 44%, from 2,705 in the week ending 4 January to 3,907 in the week ending 11 January. This is one of the greatest increases in cases since the pandemic began, according to wastewater analyses of the virus. It is much lower than the peak in January 2022 but similar to the summer 2022 increase.