Global health leaders are urging caution as the holiday season is underway in Western countries, pointing to a 23 percent spike in coronavirus cases across the Americas in the past week, a surge that follows spikes in Europe, which officials warn could be a “window into the future for the Americas,” media reported.

U.S. health regulators are expected to make public on Friday a staff review about the COVID-19 pill molnupiravir from Merck & Co. and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics LP, with an analysis of clinical-trial data for the drug included, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The companies said that the pill reduces the risk of hospitalization and dying in people at high risk of severe COVID-19 infections. The report may also provide the staff’s opinion about whether health authorities should clear the drug for use. Britain cleared molnupiravir for use earlier this month.

Molnupiravir, together with another experimental antiviral from Pfizer Inc. which is also under review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), promises to fill a big gap in COVID-19 treatment for a pill that people could easily take at home to keep them out of the hospital, according to the report.

CASES UP, INOCULATIONS DOWN:

“Coronavirus cases are on the rise nationally, an unwelcome trend after leveling off earlier this fall,” reported The Washington Post (WP) on Thursday. On Monday, the White House reported a seven-day daily average of just under 93,000 cases, an 18 percent jump from a week earlier. Hospitalizations rose 6 percent to 5,600 per day.

At least two dozen states have seen cases rise at least 5 percent in the past two weeks, with Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, New Hampshire and North Dakota each recording per capita jumps of more than 60 percent. Some highly vaccinated states, including Vermont and Massachusetts, were also seeing steep rises in cases.