NEW YORK (AP) - 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 two-year total, as compiled by Johns Hopkins University, is greater than the population of Indianapolis, San Francisco, or Charlotte, North Carolina.
The milestone comes more than 13 months into a vaccination drive that has been beset by misinformation and political and legal strife, though the shots have proved safe and highly effective at preventing serious illness and death.
“It is an astronomically high number. If you had told most Americans two years ago as this pandemic was getting going that 900,000 Americans would die over the next few years, I think most people would not have believed it,” said Dr. Ashish K. Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.
He lamented that most of the deaths happened after the vaccine gained authorization.
“We got the medical science right. We failed on the social science. We failed on how to help people get vaccinated, to combat disinformation, to not politicize this,” Jha said. “Those are the places where we have failed as America.”
President Joe Biden lamented the milestone in a statement Friday night, saying, “After nearly two years, I know that the emotional, physical, and psychological weight of this pandemic has been incredibly difficult to bear.”
He again urged Americans to get vaccinations and booster shots. “Two hundred and fifty million Americans have stepped up to protect themselves, their families, and their communities by getting at least one shot — and we have saved more than one million American lives as a result,” Biden said.
Just 64% of the population is fully vaccinated, or about 212 million Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
___
MADRID (AP) — Spain will end a mandate to wear masks outdoors next week, reversing a late December order against an unprecedented surge of coronavirus infections fueled by a highly contagious mutation, Health Minister Carolina Darias said.
After confirming that contagion levels have peaked, the Spanish Cabinet will end the mandate next Tuesday and the government expects the changes to be adopted from Thursday, Feb. 10, Darias told Cadena SER radio on Friday.
Mask wearing will remain mandatory in indoor public spaces, including public transportation, and outdoors whenever citizens can’t keep a safe distance of 1.5 meters between them.
The outdoor mandate, adopted on Dec. 22 as many were preparing to reunite with loved ones on Christmas, was the government's main response to the spread of omicron.
The decision was criticized by some experts as a cosmetic move that had little effect in halting contagion.
Official health ministry data shows how the spread of the virus gained speed in November and peaked on Jan. 21 at 3,418 new infections per 100,000 residents in two weeks, a pandemic record. Contagion has since slowed down and the 14-day figure dropped by 1,000 infections per 100,000 residents on Thursday, to 2,420.
Authorities credit a strong vaccination rate of nearly 81% of the 47 million population for a lower admission rate of people with COVID-19 in hospitals than in previous infection surges.
Spain has officially recorded just over 94,000 deaths linked to COVID-19.
___
DENPASAR, Indonesia (AP) — Direct international flights to Bali have resumed for the first time in two years as Indonesia opens the resort island to foreign travelers from all countries, but mandatory quarantine remains in place for all visitors.
Officials had said in October that Bali would welcome foreign arrivals from 19 countries that meet World Health Organization criteria, such as having their COVID-19 cases under control. But there were no direct international flights to Bali until Thursday, when Garuda Indonesia operated its first such flight in two years from Tokyo.
Singapore Airlines will introduce a regular direct route to and from Denpasar in Bali starting Feb. 16, said Taufan Yudhistira, the public relations manager at Bali’s international airport.
Fully vaccinated travelers need to quarantine for five days in a hotel or on a liveaboard boat certified by the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, and travelers who have received one dose of COVID-19 vaccine must quarantine for seven days.
Indonesia reported 27,197 new coronavirus infections and 38 deaths on Thursday in the latest 24-hour period. The country has seen more than 4.4 million total cases since the pandemic began.
___
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea on Friday extended its limits on indoor gatherings as health workers reported the fourth straight day of record coronavirus cases, following the Lunar New Year holiday.
Announcing the decision at a government meeting, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum cited the “inexorable” virus spread driven by the highly contagious omicron variant, even as he acknowledged the public’s fatigue with pandemic restrictions.
The 27,443 new cases reported by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency was 4,500 more than the previous one-day record set on Thursday, reflecting an acceleration in transmissions following this week’s holiday.
Amid the virus surge, health workers are struggling to keep up with a sudden increase in at-home COVID-19 patients, including delivering Pfizer's Paxlovid pills for treatment.
At least through Feb. 20, officials will restrict any private social gatherings between those who are fully vaccinated to six people, while requiring unvaccinated people to eat or drink alone at restaurants and coffee shops. Public indoor dining is banned after 9 p.m.
Proof of vaccination or a recent negative test is also required to enter potentially crowded venues such as restaurants, nightclubs, karaoke rooms and gyms.