decrease hospitalizations and deaths and are a game-changer with the potential to impact the outcome of covid on people and our nation. bottom line, we have the tools we need to manage the surge in omicron cases. with that i ll turn it over to dr. walensky. thank you, jeff, and good morning everyone. i d like to start by walking you through today s state that. current seven-day daily average is about 491,700 cases per day, an increase of about 98% from the previous week. the seven-day average of hospital admissions is about 14,800 per day, an increase of about 63% over the previous week. the seven-day average of daily deaths are about 1,200 per day, which is an increase of about 5% over the prior week. over the last several weeks and over the holidays we have seen a significant and rapid increase in covid-19 cases. this increase reflects both