US White House Warns of 100 Million COVID-19 Cases in Second Half of the Year

Average of 70,000 Daily Infections... Additional Budget Approval Needed

[Asia Economy International Desk Reporter] U.S. media outlets have reported that 100 million people in the United States could be infected with COVID-19 in the second half of this year.

U.S. White House. Photo by AP Yonhap News

U.S. media such as The Washington Post (WP) cited senior White House officials, reporting that, assuming no external factors such as additional budget support or the emergence of new variants, authorities are concerned about the possibility of 100 million new cases this fall and winter. WP stated that this figure assumes that Omicron and its subvariants remain the dominant strains through the second half of the year.

The White House has conveyed this estimate to Congress and is reportedly pressuring for the approval of additional budget measures currently pending to respond to COVID-19.

The Biden administration is emphasizing the need for additional funding to expand free second booster vaccinations for COVID-19.

According to WP, as of the 6th, the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases is 71,000 per day, more than double the 29,312 cases recorded on March 30. Based on NBC’s own tally, the number of COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. has already surpassed 1 million.

Confirmed cases among government officials and politicians continue to emerge.

Recently, concerns have been raised that the virus is approaching President Joe Biden’s circle, as Vice President Kamala Harris, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have all tested positive for COVID-19 in quick succession.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.