Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

Omicron sends COVID-19 cases to over 3,330 in USVI

Omicron sends COVID-19 cases to over 3,330 in USVI

COVID-19 cases in the U.S. Virgin Islands surged to 3,308 Thursday, a jump of 433 new infections as the Omicron variant of the disease continues to break records in the territory and around the world.
According to the V.I. Dept. of Health, St. Thomas accounted for 1,571 of the active infections, followed by St. Croix with 1,532, and St. John with 205. These are by far the highest numbers of Covid-19 territory-wide and per island.

This wave of cases is driven by the extremely transmissible variant of Covid-19 named Omicron. The good news is that the strain is drastically less severe than others before it, and it has essentially pushed out the deadlier Delta variant.

To that end, President Joe Biden is preparing to change his strategy and messaging by telling Americans to accept the virus as part of daily life — seeing Covid-19 as an endemic instead of a constant emergency. According to the major U.S. news publications, including the Wall Street Journal and New York Times, a group of Mr. Biden’s former health advisers called on the president to develop a new national strategy whose focus would be to address the virus as being here to stay.

According to WSJ, in a series of opinion articles published Thursday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, some health experts who advised Mr. Biden during the presidential transition outlined potential next steps for reducing transmission of the virus while accepting its enduring presence. They wrote that the Biden administration should establish thresholds for what level of hospitalizations and deaths from respiratory illnesses, including Covid-19, would necessitate emergency measures.

WSJ said the authors also laid out measures the administration should take to better equip the country against Covid-19 outbreaks, such as broadening vaccine mandates to eventually include schoolchildren, phasing in vaccines to target new variants, making low-cost testing more widely accessible, upgrading ventilation and air filtration systems in congregate settings, and providing N95 masks to the public.

When asked about the recommendations, Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, stated that the president's "ultimate goal continues to be to defeat the virus." Currently, however, the administration's focus is on reducing hospitalizations and deaths while making more treatment available, she said. The administration would leave school districts to make their own decisions on vaccine mandates for students.

The change in strategy comes as the U.S. battles a Covid wave fueled by the Omicron variant. The difference this time is that cases are causing more mild reactions, but the major disruptions are upending daily life because of current protocols for people who test positive for Covid-19. Thursday marked the 12th straight day of more than 1,000 flight cancellations, according to WSJ, and many states warned that ongoing testing shortages will make it harder to return people to work and school.

In the USVI, many government departments and agencies have closed in-person operations due to the rapid spread of Omicron, and on Tuesday Mr. Bryan announced the reopening of in-person learning for public schools would be pushed to Jan. 24th instead of the previous Jan. 10th schedule. In the meantime, students will learn virtually.

The president through appearances is starting to refine his messaging to convey that Covid-19 will be here to stay and Americans must learn to live with it. “You can control how big an impact Omicron is going to have on your health,” Mr. Biden said. “We’re seeing Covid-19 cases among [the] vaccinated in workplaces across America, including here at the White House. But if you’re vaccinated and boosted, you are highly protected.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×