Universities cancelled events, the National Football League reported a record number of cases, and long lines formed at New York City testing clinics as a sharp rise in Covid-19 cases and concern over the Omicron variant disrupted American life anew.

The NFL and two other major North American sports leagues scrambled to control outbreaks as the threat of widespread schedule disruptions loomed larger.

US diplomatic efforts fell victim to the new spate of infections with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken cutting short a brief trip to Southeast Asia after learning of a Covid-19 case in the press corps accompanying him.

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