Technologies

Daily US COVID cases hit record high, as omicron, delta present ‘twin threats’

In the states and elsewhere, the variants are leading to what the World Health Organization’s director-general called «a tsunami of cases.»

For the most up-to-date news and information about the coronavirus pandemic, visit the WHO and CDC websites.

The number of daily coronavirus cases in the US hit a record high Tuesday, with a 7-day moving average from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing more than 277,000 infections. The previous peak came nearly a year ago, in January.

The current surge represents a 60% increase from the week prior, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said at a White House briefing Wednesday. But despite that jump, hospitalizations rose only 14%, to about 9,000 per day, and deaths actually dipped about 7%, to 1,100 per day, Walensky said.

«This could be due to the fact that hospitalizations tend to lag behind cases by about two weeks,» Walensky said, «but may also be due to early indications that we’ve seen from other countries like South Africa and the United Kingdom of milder disease from omicron, especially among the vaccinated and the boosted.»

Some data suggests that the highly transmissible omicron strain may lead to less severe disease and a lower chance of hospitalization than with other variants. Still, the fact that omicron is so contagious is a concern. Specialists worry that If large amounts of people become ill, many of them will inevitably need hospital care, which will inundate health care systems required to treat not only COVID-19 patients but also people seeking care for other conditions that can turn fatal without intervention.

Omicron is the dominant variant in the US, estimated to account for 58.6% of all U.S. infections as of Dec. 25, according to CDC data, down from slightly less than 75% the week prior.

Several European nations, including France, the UK, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece, also registered record numbers of new cases this week, the BBC reported.

At a separate press conference Wednesday, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called the omicron and delta mutations «twin threats» that are «leading to a tsunami of cases.»

CNET’s Jessica Rendall contributed to this report.

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Apple’s New Smart Home Display Delayed Until Fall Over Siri Issues

It has been nearly a year and a half since the company announced the AI-powered product.

Your home could get smarter with Apple’s Siri, but it will have to wait a few more months. Bloomberg reported the iPad-shaped AI home hub won’t be ready until September, several months after the company was hoping to launch it this spring. Apple engineers first need to complete work on a new and improved Siri assistant for the home device, code-named J490, according to Bloomberg.

Apple was hoping to release J490 this month, along with a slew of other new devices, including the iPhone 17e, MacBook Neo, MacBook Air M5, new Pro models, and iPad Air M4. Apple first teased the smart home display in November 2024.

A representative for Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Siri is Apple’s virtual assistant that uses voice recognition and AI to fulfill a variety of tasks and commands, along with intriguing uses. You might use Siri to find your iPhone — «Hey Siri, where are you?» — or to hear the weather forecast — «Siri, what will the weather be today?» Siri is available on iPhones, MacBooks and iPads. It was launched in 2011 as a feature of the iPhone 4S.

As CNET reported last month, Apple engineers have struggled to push the upgraded Siri assistant out the door. It isn’t fast enough, gets confused by complex commands and doesn’t interact well with other Apple AI models. The company is also wrestling with how much personal data to access to inform the AI, and the new Siri is not yet able to complete in-app tasks, such as finding a photo and posting it to socials, all with one command.

It has been nearly two years since Apple announced that it would give Siri a major upgrade. In the meantime, competitors like Alexa Plus and Gemini for Home have entered the marketplace.

Tech tester Jon Rettinger, whose YouTube channel has 1.66 million subscribers, says the repeated delays in upgrading Siri can «erode» confidence in Apple’s ability to keep up in the AI race.

«Apple as a whole is still one of the strongest companies on the planet. But their AI play is clearly the weakest link in an otherwise very strong chain,» Rettinger told CNET.

Rettinger said he has had issues getting Siri to complete basic commands, such as setting two alarms at the same time, and that it’s a bit of «a mess» right now.

«Having said that, the iPhone has such massive market penetration that I’m not sure it will actually matter in the end. Which is kind of wild when you think about it,» Rettinger said.

Facial recognition for residents

The hardware for the forthcoming smart home display has already been finished. It resembles an iPad and can be either attached to a wall or rest on a half-domed-shaped base, the Bloomberg report said.

The device will be equipped with facial recognition, so when residents walk up to it, they will be shown personalized data such as music preferences, news headlines, appointments, reminders, tasks and so on.

The screen interface will include a bunch of circular app icons, similar to the display on an Apple Watch. The Bloomberg report said the smart home display will be the first of several home devices by Apple. Future products include a tabletop robotic limb with a 9-inch screen, a smart security camera and a Face ID-enabled smart doorbell.