(WASHINGTON) — Last month, President Joe Biden announced that 500 million free at-home rapid tests for COVID would be mailed out to American homes. On Thursday, Biden announced that he was doubling that promise and would now ship out another 500 million — to make 1 billion in total.
That’s on top of 50 million free at-home tests already sent to community health centers around the country, 20,000 free testing sites and an insurance reimbursement plan that goes into effect on Saturday to allow Americans to get tests covered if they find and buy them at retailers.
Taken together, it all signifies a clear effort on behalf of the administration to increase the testing supply after the omicron variant surge caught the government off guard.
But a timeline for when the 1 billion free tests will reach American households remains elusive. From obtaining the kits to packaging and mailing them to some 160 million households, the plan could take months to complete – well beyond what experts project will be the peak of the Omicron surge.
When will you see your free tests from the government?
Biden first announced the plan to ship out free tests to all Americans when it was nearly impossible to find any on pharmacy shelves and lines for testing sites were hours long. The free tests were welcome news.
But by mid-January, the Biden administration still hadn’t shipped out a single free test.
Details on the website Americans will use to request these tests will be revealed on Friday, along with information on when and how many tests each American can order, and the White House has said the first tests will be delivered by the end of the month.
Tens of millions of tests could go out in January, according to recently released contracts between the White House and testing companies, while more are expected to be delivered in February.
But interviews with the majority of the biggest at-home testing companies suggested that it will be months before all 500 million tests could reach American doorsteps, meaning it’s unlikely the average American will get free tests delivered in time for the January peak of omicron cases predicted by most models.
And on Tuesday, an official with the Department of Health and Human Services gave a clearer timeline to Congress, telling senators that the remaining 500 million tests would go out “over the next 60 days.”
So how long will it take for all 1 billion to reach Americans?
Biden’s announcement on Thursday that an extra 500 million tests would be added to the plan didn’t include any details on delivery.
If they’re sent out after the initial batch of 500 million, it will be at least mid-March before they reach Americans.
How hard will it be to deliver all of these tests?
It’s been increasingly difficult for testing companies to distribute their at-home rapid tests in the last few weeks.
“The supply chain challenges have been an issue for tests as they are with so many other goods and services,” said Mara Aspinall, the head of the National Testing Action Program at the Rockefeller Foundation, which connects testing companies with state governments.
Some of it is general supply issues, like getting individual parts required to make the tests, but more and more Aspinall said she’s hearing that companies are seeing breakdowns in their shipping process because so many people are out with COVID.
And as more testing companies are authorized by the Food and Drug Administration, there’s more competition for the shipping companies that help get these tests out.
But for Biden’s plan, the government will use the U.S. Post Office to get tests out — hopefully bypassing distribution issues that testing companies face when they have to figure it out for themselves by using a massive government institution that successfully delivered over 13 billion pieces of mail and packages for the holidays with an average delivery time of less than 3 days.
Mark Dimondstein, the president of the American Postal Workers Union, said Thursday that the Postal Service will retain up to 7,000 seasonal workers at 43 sites across the country to help package and label the tests, “and then from there, it will go into the regular mail stream,” a process that typically takes 2-5 days.
“This is absolutely feasible … as fast as the orders come in, the Postal Service should be able to handle it,” Dimondstein said. “Of course, the Biden administration needs to do its part for us to be able to do our part.”
As for the testing companies, Biden’s latest plan shows a commitment to avoiding the mistakes revealed by omicron.
Fast action requires manufacturing capabilities that the U.S. wasn’t prepared for, in part because of the unpredictability of the virus but also due to the country’s vaccine-focused approach over the past year, which drove down demand for tests and left the country with fewer tests when it needed them most.
“It is important for the U.S. to maintain the testing manufacturing capacity and supply during periods of low demand so we can respond to future variants and surges,” John Koval, a spokesperson for the at-home testing company Abbott, told ABC News last week.
“We’re on the right path now, but we can’t be complacent or think that testing won’t play a critical role in our ability to gather safely,” he said.
ABC News’ Mark Abdelmalek contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.5 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 843,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
About 62.6% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Jan 13, 4:23 pm
Inside an Ohio children’s hospital facing a COVID surge
More than 300 children with COVID-19 are in Ohio hospitals, including Dayton Children’s Hospital, where workers are seeing a significant increase in pediatric COVID-19-related hospitalizations.
Dr. Vipul Patel, chief of pediatric intensive care at Dayton Children’s, told ABC News the ICU is now busier than at any other point in the pandemic.
COVID-19 is only exacerbating previously existing health issues for many children, Patel explained, adding that many parents are shocked to see their children become so sick, and some families have even expressed regret for not vaccinating their kids. Nationwide, about 35% of eligible children (ages 5 to 17) are fully vaccinated, according to federal data.
Dayton Children’s respiratory therapist Hillary O’Neil said it’s been particularly difficult to see children who are too young to understand what is happening sick and scared.
“You can see it in the faces of kids that can’t talk — their eyes get really big and they, we watch them struggle to breathe,” O’Neil said. “Then on top of that we watch their parents struggle to watch their child, and that is sometimes just as hard as watching the kids.”
Jackie Kerby, whose baby, Enaeshya, is hospitalized with COVID-19, told ABC News, “She’s getting these fevers in the night, and they’re not coming down. … I am terribly scared.”
Across the U.S. more than 5,000 children are currently hospitalized with a confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19, according to federal data. On average, hospital admissions among children have quadrupled over the last month.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos, Kayna Whitworth
Jan 13, 3:20 pm
New York COVID-19 cases falling
New York state’s COVID-19 cases are falling after experiencing a major surge over the holidays, according to state data.
New York recorded 60,374 new cases in the last 24 hours — an improvement from New Year’s Day when 85,476 daily cases were reporting during a spike in testing demands.
Jan 13, 3:00 pm
Supreme Court issues stay of vaccine-or-test requirement on private businesses
The Supreme Court has issued a stay of the vaccine-or-test requirement imposed on private businesses with at least 100 employees by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
In a 6-3 ruling, with the three liberal justices dissenting, the court finds likelihood the challengers will prevail and that OSHA exceeds its authority.
At the same time, the justices voted 5-4 to allow the Biden administration to require health care workers at facilities that treat Medicare and Medicaid patients to be vaccinated, subject to religious or medical exemptions.
-ABC News’ Devin Dwyer
Jan 13, 11:22 am
8,000 Delta employees test positive within 4 weeks
About 8,000 of Delta Air Lines’ 75,000 employees had COVID-19 over the last four weeks, Delta CEO Ed Bastian told CNBC.
“Good news is that they were all fine. There’s been no significant issues,” he said.
“But it’s knocked them out of the operation” amid the busiest travel season in two years, he said.
United CEO Scott Kirby said Tuesday that around 3,000 of United workers have COVID-19 right now.
Across the U.S., 3,783 TSA employees are currently at home with COVID-19, the agency said.
-ABC News’ Mina Kaji, Sam Sweeney
Jan 13, 10:53 am
Biden: White House now trying to acquire 1 billion tests
President Joe Biden said he’s directing his team to procure 500 million additional tests to meet future demand — bringing the total to 1 billion.
Biden said the White House is on track to roll out a website next week allowing Americans to order tests shipped to their homes.
The administration will also announce next week how it’s making high-quality masks available for free, Biden said.
Biden also made a plea to social media companies and media outlets.
“Please deal with the misinformation and disinformation that’s on your shows — it has to stop,” he said. “COVID-19 is one of the most formidable enemies America has ever faced. We’ve got to work together.”
Jan 13, 10:27 am
US death toll up 50% since Christmas
The U.S. is now reporting an average of 1,650 new COVID-19-related deaths each day — up by about 50% since Christmas, according to federal data.
Indiana currently has the highest death rate, followed by Delaware and New York City.
Twenty-six states are now averaging more daily cases than at any point in the pandemic, according to federal data.
Surging national case numbers, however, may not be indicative of what is happening in every region of the country. Some areas could see a decline or a plateau in cases, according to some experts.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Jan 13, 5:02 am
Biden sending medical teams to hospitals overwhelmed by COVID-19
President Joe Biden will deploy military medical teams to hospitals in six states where COVID-19 infections are surging.
Teams of doctors, nurses and clinical personnel will be sent as early as next week to New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Rhode Island, Michigan and New Mexico, Biden is expected to announce on Thursday alongside Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell.
Biden in December directed the defense secretary to ready 1,000 military medical personnel to deploy to hospitals across the country as needed in January and February. The teams now being readied will be the first to start arriving at hospitals.
They’ll be sent to Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, Coney Island Hospital in Brooklyn, Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, Henry Ford Hospital near Detroit, University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque and University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey.
Biden, Austin and Criswell on Thursday will also “be briefed on the administration’s efforts to send resources and personnel to hard-hit communities across the country that are experiencing a surge in hospitalizations due to the Omicron variant,” according to a White House official.
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Jan 12, 7:24 pm
Testing labs now struggling with their own staffing shortages due to virus
The labs shouldering much of the nation’s PCR COVID-19 testing are getting slammed with demand again during omicron’s surge, and now they’re grappling with a new challenge: their workforces are getting hit by the virus they’ve been tasked with tracking.
The American Clinical Laboratory Association, the national trade association representing some of the leading clinical labs responsible for COVID diagnostics, is warning that their members’ workforce is strained as more workers call out sick.
“Labs are now facing a wave of new issues brought on by a fast-spreading variant that has not spared the laboratory care work force,” an ACLA spokesperson told ABC News.
COVID-19 infections have increased laboratory staff sick leave — a “significant factor in determining overall capacity” at an industry-wide level, the spokesperson said.
“We have been pressured to get our capacity where we believe it can be because of the labor problems we see,” Quest Diagnostics CEO Steve Rusckowski said Wednesday at the JPM Healthcare Conference. “Some of this is just getting the labor to do our work, but secondly, is because of callouts because of the virus have been considerable over the last two weeks.”
-ABC News’ Sasha Pezenik
Jan 12, 7:00 pm
Chicago teachers accept deal to reopen classes
Chicago teachers voted Wednesday to accept the deal made by the union and city to re start in-person classes.
The deal ended the five-day standoff after the union voted to switch to remote learning due to the omicron surge.
Union leaders made a tentative agreement on Monday and urged teachers to back the deal despite frustration that the district wouldn’t grant demands for widespread coronavirus testing or commit to districtwide remote learning during a COVID-19 surge.
The final agreement will expand COVID-19 testing and create standards to switch schools to remote learning.
The deal also resulted in the purchase of KN95 masks for students and teachers and bigger incentives to attract substitute teachers. The city also agreed to give teachers unpaid leave related to the pandemic.
Jan 12, 6:07 pm
96% of Army members fully vaccinated
The U.S. Army released an update on the vaccine status of its members.
As of Jan. 11, 96% of members are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and 97% have at least one dose, according to the Army.
All armed service members are mandated to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.
Around 18,000 members remain unvaccinated, the data showed.
The Army has chosen not to discharge unvaccinated soldiers but instead “flag” them so they’re not promoted and are not allowed to re-enlist.
“To date, Army commanders have relieved a total of six active-duty leaders, including two battalion commanders, and issued 2,994 general officer written reprimands to soldiers for refusing the vaccination order,” the Army said in a news release.
(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.5 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 843,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
About 62.6% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Jan 13, 5:02 am
Biden sending medical teams to hospitals overwhelmed by COVID-19
President Joe Biden will deploy military medical teams to hospitals in six states where COVID-19 infections are surging.
Teams of doctors, nurses and clinical personnel will be sent as early as next week to New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Rhode Island, Michigan and New Mexico, Biden is expected to announce on Thursday alongside Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell.
Biden in December directed the defense secretary to ready 1,000 military medical personnel to deploy to hospitals across the country as needed in January and February. The teams now being readied will be the first to start arriving at hospitals.
They’ll be sent to Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, Coney Island Hospital in Brooklyn, Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, Henry Ford Hospital near Detroit, University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque and University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey.
Biden, Austin and Criswell on Thursday will also “be briefed on the administration’s efforts to send resources and personnel to hard-hit communities across the country that are experiencing a surge in hospitalizations due to the Omicron variant,” according to a White House official.
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Jan 12, 7:24 pm
Testing labs now struggling with their own staffing shortages due to virus
The labs shouldering much of the nation’s PCR COVID-19 testing are getting slammed with demand again during omicron’s surge, and now they’re grappling with a new challenge: their workforces are getting hit by the virus they’ve been tasked with tracking.
The American Clinical Laboratory Association, the national trade association representing some of the leading clinical labs responsible for COVID diagnostics, is warning that their members’ workforce is strained as more workers call out sick.
“Labs are now facing a wave of new issues brought on by a fast-spreading variant that has not spared the laboratory care work force,” an ACLA spokesperson told ABC News.
COVID-19 infections have increased laboratory staff sick leave — a “significant factor in determining overall capacity” at an industry-wide level, the spokesperson said.
“We have been pressured to get our capacity where we believe it can be because of the labor problems we see,” Quest Diagnostics CEO Steve Rusckowski said Wednesday at the JPM Healthcare Conference. “Some of this is just getting the labor to do our work, but secondly, is because of callouts because of the virus have been considerable over the last two weeks.”
-ABC News’ Sasha Pezenik
Jan 12, 7:00 pm
Chicago teachers accept deal to reopen classes
Chicago teachers voted Wednesday to accept the deal made by the union and city to re start in-person classes.
The deal ended the five-day standoff after the union voted to switch to remote learning due to the omicron surge.
Union leaders made a tentative agreement on Monday and urged teachers to back the deal despite frustration that the district wouldn’t grant demands for widespread coronavirus testing or commit to districtwide remote learning during a COVID-19 surge.
The final agreement will expand COVID-19 testing and create standards to switch schools to remote learning.
The deal also resulted in the purchase of KN95 masks for students and teachers and bigger incentives to attract substitute teachers. The city also agreed to give teachers unpaid leave related to the pandemic.
Jan 12, 6:07 pm
96% of Army members fully vaccinated
The U.S. Army released an update on the vaccine status of its members.
As of Jan. 11, 96% of members are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and 97% have at least one dose, according to the Army.
All armed service members are mandated to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.
Around 18,000 members remain unvaccinated, the data showed.
The Army has chosen not to discharge unvaccinated soldiers but instead “flag” them so they’re not promoted and are not allowed to re-enlist.
“To date, Army commanders have relieved a total of six active-duty leaders, including two battalion commanders, and issued 2,994 general officer written reprimands to soldiers for refusing the vaccination order,” the Army said in a news release.
(MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md.) — One of the largest school districts in Maryland is asking for help at the highest level to address its bus driver shortage brought on by the omicron surge.
Montgomery County Public Schools asked county officials to urge the state to deploy the National Guard and have them drive the district’s school buses.
On Wednesday, staffing shortages resulted in 40 to 80 routes being canceled, according to Montgomery County Public Schools spokesman Chris Cram.
The school system serves more than 162,000 students and includes 1,400 buses.
Cram told ABC News the state hasn’t responded to the school district’s request as of Wednesday evening.
Montgomery County’s request is among some of the extraordinary moves that school districts have made to fill staffing shortages caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
On Wednesday, the Kansas Board of Education voted on a measure to change the requirements for hiring substitute teachers.
Anyone over 18 who has a high school diploma and passes a background check can apply to be a substitute teacher. The new regulation will remain in effect until June, officials said.
School districts in Palo Alto, California, and Hays County, Texas, have also reached out to parents to help fill the shortages caused by sick substitute teachers and other staff.
(NEW YORK) — A winter storm is expected to bring up to 8 inches of snow across the Midwest beginning Thursday evening.
Winter storm watches are in effect for parts of South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa into Friday.
The system is expected to move southeast this weekend.
Some southern states, including Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina, could see snow and ice.
The storm may then move up the East Coast, potentially bringing wintry impacts to the Northeast Sunday night through Monday.
In the meantime, the Northeast, which saw its coldest day in nearly three years on Tuesday, will experience another cold blast Saturday, with wind chills plunging below zero in New York City and across New England.
(WASHINGTON) — A record number of law enforcement officers died in the line of duty in 2021, according to a report from the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund Wednesday, with most losing their lives to COVID-19.
In 2021, 458 law enforcement officers died — up 55% from 2020, according to the report.
In 2020, 295 federal, state, local and tribal officers died in the line of duty. The closest number to 2021’s was recorded was in 1930, when there were 312 law enforcement deaths.
The vast majority of deaths — 301 — were due to COVID-19 according to the report, the second year in a row COVID-19 was the leading cause of line-of-duty deaths. The vaccination status of the 301 is not known.
Customs and Border Patrol Agent David Ramirez was among those who died due to complications of COVID-19. Ramirez, a father of three, was assigned to the Sector Intelligence Unit/Joint California Forensics Center in San Diego, according to Customs and Border Protection.
“This year’s statistics demonstrate that America’s front-line law enforcement officers continue to battle the deadly effects of the Covid-19 pandemic nationwide,” the report said. “Law enforcement officers nationwide continue to be exposed to the Covid-19 virus in the course of their daily assignments; therefore, the number of line-of-duty deaths is sadly ever-increasing.”
Officers like Lubbock County, Texas, Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Joshua Bartlett were among the 62 officers killed by guns in 2021.
In the morning hours of July 15, a man was stopped by the Texas Highway Patrol for reckless driving. According to the NODEM page, the subject returned home after the incident and began walking around his neighborhood with a gun. When the SWAT team and Bartlett showed up, the suspect allegedly opened fire after barricading himself in his house, killing Bartlett, a military veteran.
The increase in officers killed by a gun increased by 36% from 2020. Handguns were the leading cause of death in the firearm category — with eight in October, making it the deadliest month in 2021.
Traffic-related incident killings, such as during stops, saw an increase of 38% from 2020.
(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.5 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 842,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
About 62.6% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Jan 12, 2:32 pm
More than 15 million new cases reported globally last week
More than 15 million new COVID-19 cases were reported globally last week, according to the World Health Organization.
“By far the most cases reported in a single week, and we know this is an underestimate,” WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday.
He said this “huge spike” is driven by omicron.
“While omicron causes less severe disease than delta, it remains a dangerous virus, particularly for those who are unvaccinated,” Tedros warned.
WHO officials said new vaccines may be needed for different variants, and until those vaccines are developed, the current vaccines may need to be updated.
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
Jan 12, 1:59 pm
White House considering making high-quality masks available to all
The White House is considering making “more high-quality masks” available to all Americans, according to White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients.
“We’re in the process right now of strongly considering options to make more high-quality masks available to all Americans,” he said at Wednesday’s briefing.
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Jan 12, 1:35 pm
Rhode Island reporting nation’s highest new case rate, California reaches pandemic case high
Deaths in the U.S. are on the rise. The average now stands at more than 1,600 new COVID-19-related fatalities each day — up by about 48% in the last two weeks, according to federal data.
Out of the 3,220 U.S. counties, just 26 counties are not reporting high transmission, according to federal data.
In the last week alone, the U.S. has reported more than 5.2 million new cases — that averages out to nearly nine Americans testing positive for COVID-19 every second.
Rhode Island is reporting the nation’s highest new case rate, while California is now averaging more than 100,000 new cases every day — a pandemic high for the Golden State.
But, according to experts, the surging national case numbers may not be indicative of what is happening in every region, and the nation’s overall continued increase does not necessarily mean that some areas will not see a decline.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Jan 12, 1:12 pm
91% less risk of death with omicron: Study
At Wednesday’s White House briefing Dr. Anthony Fauci was asked if people are protected from getting omicron again, and he said the information isn’t available yet.
But CDC director Rochelle Walensky outlined a study from Kaiser Permanente Southern California that showed, compared to delta, omicron had a 53% reduction in adjusted risk of symptomatic hospitalization, a 74% reduction in adjusted risk of ICU admission and a 91% reduction in adjusted risk of death.
“The data in this study remain consistent with what we are seeing from omicron in other countries, including South Africa and the U.K., and provide some understanding of what we can expect over the coming weeks as cases are predicted to peak in this country,” Walensky said.
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Jan 12, 1:00 pm
CDC will update mask ‘information’ but won’t tell Americans which ones to wear
At Wednesday’s White House briefing, when asked about changing the CDC’s mask guidance CDC director Rochelle Walensky said the guidance won’t change but the CDC will update its website to reflect which masks work best, without telling Americans which one to wear.
“CDC continues to recommend that any mask is better than no mask and we do encourage all Americans to wear a well-fitting mask to protect themselves and prevent the spread of COVID 19. And that recommendation is not going to change,” Walensky said.
“We are preparing an update to the information on our mask website to best reflect the options that are available … and the different levels of protection different masks provide. And we want to provide Americans the best and most updated information to choose what mask is going to be right for them,” she said.
“The best mask that you wear is the one that you will wear and the one you can keep on all day long that you can tolerate in public indoor settings and tolerate where you need to wear it,” Walensky said. “We will provide information on improved filtration and that occurs with other masks such as N95s and information that the public needs about how to make a choice, which mask is the right one for them. But most importantly, we want to highlight the best mask for you as the one that you can wear comfortably.”
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Jan 12, 12:34 pm
Quebec considering health tax for unvaccinated residents
COVID-19 hospitalizations are increasing in Quebec and Quebec Premier François Legault says the biggest challenge is staffing.
“To get through the next few weeks, we’re going to need 1,000 more employees in hospitals and 1,500 more employees” at one of Quebec’s long-term care facilities, Legault wrote on Facebook.
About 10% of adults in Quebec are unvaccinated, but they make up half of the COVID-19 ICU hospitalizations.
“This means that unvaccinated adults are nine times more likely to be hospitalized than vaccinated adults. This is a huge burden on our health network,” he said. “This is why we are considering a payable health contribution for all adults who refuse, for non-medical reasons, to get vaccinated,” he said.
“The amount has not been decided yet, but it will be a significant amount,” he added.
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
Jan 12, 11:55 am
COVID is leading killer of law enforcement for 2nd year in a row
The vast majority of law enforcement deaths last year — 301 out of a total 458 deaths — were due to COVID-19, the second year in a row COVID-19 was the leading cause of line-of-duty deaths, according to a new report from the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund.
“Law enforcement officers nationwide continue to be exposed to the Covid-19 virus in the course of their daily assignments; therefore, the number of line-of-duty deaths is sadly ever-increasing,” the report said.
The vaccination status of the 301 officers who died is not known.
Jan 12, 10:22 am
CDC says it will update mask guidance
The CDC says it plans to update its mask guidance to “best reflect the multiple options available to people and the different levels of protection they provide.”
The CDC did not say when its guidance will be updated. In the meantime, the CDC said in a statement, “any mask is better than no mask, and we encourage Americans to wear a well-fitting mask to prevent the spread of COVID-19.”
Since the arrival of omicron, health experts have urged Americans to upgrade their cloth masks to an N95 or KN95 because the new variant is so highly transmissible. But these higher-grade masks are costly and hard to find.
Prior to omicron, CDC director Rochelle Walensky resisted suggesting N95 masks for the average American because the CDC didn’t want to discourage people from wearing any mask.
Dawn O’Connell, a top official at the Health and Human Services Department, said Tuesday that the Biden administration plans to increase production of N95s. There are already 737 million N95 masks in the strategic national stockpile available for medical workers.
-ABC News’ Anne Flaherty
Jan 12, 9:50 am
22,000 more Americans may die from COVID over next 2 weeks
Forecast models used by the CDC suggests COVID-19-related deaths will significantly increase over the next four weeks.
The model forecasts that 22,000 more Americans could die from COVID-19 in just the next two weeks.
The CDC obtains these forecasts from the COVID-19 Forecast Hub at UMass Amherst, where a team monitors and combines forecasting models from the nation’s top researchers. The team then creates an ensemble — displayed like a hurricane forecast spaghetti plot — usually with a wide cone of uncertainty.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Jan 12, 9:50 am
22,000 more Americans may die from COVID over next 2 weeks
A forecast model used by the CDC suggests COVID-19-related deaths will significantly increase over the next four weeks.
The model forecasts that 22,000 more Americans could die from COVID-19 in just the next two weeks.
The CDC obtains these forecasts from the COVID-19 Forecast Hub at UMass Amherst, where a team monitors and combines forecasting models from the nation’s top researchers. The team then creates an ensemble — displayed like a hurricane forecast spaghetti plot — usually with a wide cone of uncertainty.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Jan 12, 8:51 am
British prime minister apologizes for attending lockdown party
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson apologized Wednesday for attending a party during England’s strict lockdown in 2020.
It was the first time that Johnson acknowledged he went to a garden party at his official residence and office on London’s Downing Street in May 2020. He is facing growing anger and calls for his resignation over claims he and his staff flouted COVID-19 restrictions by holding a “bring your own booze” party. At the time, Johnson’s government had imposed restrictions barring people in England from meeting more than one individual outside their household.
During the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions session in the House of Commons in London on Wednesday, Johnson said he had considered the garden party to be a work event to thank his staff for their efforts during the pandemic.
“I want to apologize,” Johnson told lawmakers. “With hindsight, I should have sent everyone back inside.”
The prime minister urged people to await “the full conclusion” of an investigation by senior civil servant Sue Gray into several alleged parties by government staff. Gray will report her findings by the end of the month.
Opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer said Johnson’s defense was “the pathetic spectacle of a man who has run out of road” and demanded he “do the decent thing and resign.”
The prime minister declined to resign and didn’t explicitly admit that he had broken any rules, but said he understood “the rage.”
“I know that millions of people across this country have made extraordinary sacrifices over the past 18 months,” he added. “I understand the anger, the rage that they feel at the thought that people in Downing Street were not following those rules.”
-ABC News’ Guy Davies, Ian Pannell and Joseph Simonetti
Jan 12, 7:56 am
Russia sounds alarm over imminent wave of omicron infections
Russian officials are warning that an omicron-fueled wave of COVID-19 infections will soon hit, amid fears about how deadly a surge of the highly contagious variant — even if milder — might be in a country with a low vaccination rate.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova, who is overseeing the COVID-19 response, and Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said Wednesday that the situation could be “more critical” than previous waves of infections in Russia — a worrying prospect since earlier waves led to a high number of deaths.
Russia has reported more than 312,000 fatalities from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. However, the country registered just under 1 million excess deaths in 2021.
The Russian government has said the country will soon see six-figure daily cases. Less than 50% of Russians are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, amid widespread reluctance across the nation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has largely tried to downplay the scale of his country’s COVID-19 outbreak, warned Wednesday of the imminent increase in infections. Putin said Russia is “on the threshold of possible new outbreaks.”
Meanwhile, Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said the country is at a “turning point,” which will decide how bad the wave will be. Russian authorities are calling for people to take precautions and observe social distancing measures. However, there are relatively few restrictions in most parts of the country.
Denis Logunov, deputy director of Russia’s Gamaleya National Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology, said Tuesday that the nationwide number of omicron cases is expected to rise considerably in late January and early February. The World Health Organization’s regional director for Europe, Dr. Hans Kluge, also warned Tuesday that omicron is expected to infect more than half of Europe’s population within the next two months.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Jan 12, 5:00 am
US government to send schools millions more COVID-19 tests
As U.S. President Joe Biden vows to keep all schools safely open for full-time in-person learning amid the pandemic, his administration announced Wednesday that it will provide schools with an additional 10 million COVID-19 tests per month.
The federal government will send 5 million more rapid tests and 5 million more lab-based PCR tests to schools nationwide each month, at no cost. The rapid tests will be delivered starting later this month, while the PCR tests will be available immediately. The additional tests every month will allow the country’s schools to “more than double the volume of testing that took place in schools across the nation in November,” according to a fact sheet from the White House.
Moreover, as the Biden administration continues to surge testing sites to hard-hit and high-risk communities, the federal government will also “consider how these sites can support the safe operations of K-12 schools,” the White House said.
The U.S. Department of Education and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will also help connect schools with testing providers so they can use money allocated to them last year through the $1.9-trillion COVID-19 stimulus package. Later this week, the CDC will provide new training, resources and materials to help schools implement “test-to-stay” policies, according to the White House.
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Jan 12, 4:21 am
West Virginia’s governor says he feels ‘extremely unwell’ after testing positive for COVID-19
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice announced Tuesday evening that he tested positive for COVID-19 and is experiencing moderate symptoms.
Justice, who is fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and has received a booster shot, said he has started a course of monoclonal antibody treatment, as recommended by his physicians. Everyone who has been in close contact with the governor over the past few days is being notified. His wife, Cathy Justice, tested negative for the virus on Tuesday evening, according to a press release from the governor’s office.
The governor was scheduled to deliver his State of the State address that night but was forced to do so via a written statement to the West Virginia Legislature instead.
“I feel extremely unwell at this point, and I have no choice but to postpone my State of the State address to the Legislature,” Justice said in a statement Tuesday evening. “I woke up this morning with congestion and a cough. A little while later, I developed a headache and fever, so I decided to get tested right away.”
“The rapid test that I took came back negative, but by the late afternoon, my symptoms were still getting much worse,” he continued. “My blood pressure and heart rate were extremely elevated, and I had a high fever. Finally, my PCR test results this evening confirmed I was positive. Because of all this, I began receiving my antibody treatment and I hope this will lessen these symptoms.”
Jan 12, 3:53 am
‘Most people are going to get COVID,’ FDA head warns
The acting head of the Food and Drug Administration warned Tuesday that most people in the United States will contract COVID-19, as the country grapples with record levels of infections and hospitalizations.
“I think it’s hard to process what’s actually happening right now, which is most people are going to get COVID,” Dr. Janet Woodcock, the acting commissioner of the FDA, said while testifying before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. “What we need to do is make sure the hospitals can still function, [and] transportation, you know, other essential services are not disrupted while this happens.”
(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.5 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 842,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
About 62.6% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Jan 12, 7:56 am
Russia sounds alarm over imminent wave of omicron infections
Russian officials are warning that an omicron-fueled wave of COVID-19 infections will soon hit, amid fears about how deadly a surge of the highly contagious variant — even if milder — might be in a country with a low vaccination rate.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova, who is overseeing the COVID-19 response, and Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said Wednesday that the situation could be “more critical” than previous waves of infections in Russia — a worrying prospect since earlier waves led to a high number of deaths.
Russia has reported more than 312,000 fatalities from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. However, the country registered just under 1 million excess deaths in 2021.
The Russian government has said the country will soon see six-figure daily cases. Less than 50% of Russians are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, amid widespread reluctance across the nation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has largely tried to downplay the scale of his country’s COVID-19 outbreak, warned Wednesday of the imminent increase in infections. Putin said Russia is “on the threshold of possible new outbreaks.”
Meanwhile, Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said the country is at a “turning point,” which will decide how bad the wave will be. Russian authorities are calling for people to take precautions and observe social distancing measures. However, there are relatively few restrictions in most parts of the country.
Denis Logunov, deputy director of Russia’s Gamaleya National Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology, said Tuesday that the nationwide number of omicron cases is expected to rise considerably in late January and early February. The World Health Organization’s regional director for Europe, Dr. Hans Kluge, also warned Tuesday that omicron is expected to infect more than half of Europe’s population within the next two months.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Jan 12, 5:00 am
US government to send schools millions more COVID-19 tests
As U.S. President Joe Biden vows to keep all schools safely open for full-time in-person learning amid the pandemic, his administration announced Wednesday that it will provide schools with an additional 10 million COVID-19 tests per month.
The federal government will send 5 million more rapid tests and 5 million more lab-based PCR tests to schools nationwide each month, at no cost. The rapid tests will be delivered starting later this month, while the PCR tests will be available immediately. The additional tests every month will allow the country’s schools to “more than double the volume of testing that took place in schools across the nation in November,” according to a fact sheet from the White House.
Moreover, as the Biden administration continues to surge testing sites to hard-hit and high-risk communities, the federal government will also “consider how these sites can support the safe operations of K-12 schools,” the White House said.
The U.S. Department of Education and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will also help connect schools with testing providers so they can use money allocated to them last year through the $1.9-trillion COVID-19 stimulus package. Later this week, the CDC will provide new training, resources and materials to help schools implement “test-to-stay” policies, according to the White House.
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Jan 12, 4:21 am
West Virginia’s governor says he feels ‘extremely unwell’ after testing positive for COVID-19
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice announced Tuesday evening that he tested positive for COVID-19 and is experiencing moderate symptoms.
Justice, who is fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and has received a booster shot, said he has started a course of monoclonal antibody treatment, as recommended by his physicians. Everyone who has been in close contact with the governor over the past few days is being notified. His wife, Cathy Justice, tested negative for the virus on Tuesday evening, according to a press release from the governor’s office.
The governor was scheduled to deliver his State of the State address that night but was forced to do so via a written statement to the West Virginia Legislature instead.
“I feel extremely unwell at this point, and I have no choice but to postpone my State of the State address to the Legislature,” Justice said in a statement Tuesday evening. “I woke up this morning with congestion and a cough. A little while later, I developed a headache and fever, so I decided to get tested right away.”
“The rapid test that I took came back negative, but by the late afternoon, my symptoms were still getting much worse,” he continued. “My blood pressure and heart rate were extremely elevated, and I had a high fever. Finally, my PCR test results this evening confirmed I was positive. Because of all this, I began receiving my antibody treatment and I hope this will lessen these symptoms.”
Jan 12, 3:53 am
‘Most people are going to get COVID,’ FDA head warns
The acting head of the Food and Drug Administration warned Tuesday that most people in the United States will contract COVID-19, as the country grapples with record levels of infections and hospitalizations.
“I think it’s hard to process what’s actually happening right now, which is most people are going to get COVID,” Dr. Janet Woodcock, the acting commissioner of the FDA, said while testifying before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. “What we need to do is make sure the hospitals can still function, [and] transportation, you know, other essential services are not disrupted while this happens.”
(NEW YORK) — The Orlando Police Department created a new unit in 2021 that sends behavioral health experts instead of law enforcement officers to respond to 911 calls for mental health crises.
It’s in an effort — one of a number around the country — to avoid confrontations with law enforcement responding to non-violent calls and potentially avoidable fatal police shootings. More than 20% of people fatally shot by police since 2015 had mental illness, according to the Washington Post‘s “Fatal Force” database.
Initiatives like these to address community concerns about policing have been ongoing for years but picked up renewed momentum in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and the nationwide protests that followed.
Fatal police shootings have been a stubborn and increasingly visible flash point for tensions between communities and police, and the racial dynamics that underpin them, thanks in part to a proliferation of bystander video and police body camera footage.
But experts say there are some glimmers of hope — early indications that a shift may be taking place.
With greater attention being paid to police-community relations, de-escalation training and diversity in the ranks, there were 888 fatal police shootings nationwide in 2021 — down 133 from 1,021 in 2020, according to data from the Washington Post‘s database.
That’s a decrease of 13% year-over-year. The lowest number of fatal shootings in a full calendar year in the database, which stretches back to 2015, is 957 in 2016 and the average is about 991.
There is no comprehensive nationwide database of police use of force, though the FBI has been attempting to build one for years, so it is difficult to get an overall sense of how often police use their weapons.
Instead, private organizations have led the charge in compiling a more complete set of data.
The Washington Post, as well as Mapping Police Violence and the Gun Violence Archive, track and verify police-involved shooting deaths based on a collection of news accounts, social media postings and police reports.
Mapping Police Violence also reports a small decrease in the number of shooting deaths attributed to police, but says the 2021 fatal shooting totals are “similar” to those of years past.
Lowest numbers in 6 years for some states
There is notable variation, however, in the number of fatal police shootings on a state level where many states experienced a drop, according to the Washington Post database.
From 2020 to 2021, Florida saw the largest numeric drop in deadly police shootings, from 93 to 44, followed by decreases in California and Washington, according to the Washington Post data.
While some states saw declines, others saw increases. Illinois saw 10 more fatal police shootings in 2021, Mississippi experienced a rise of eight and New Mexico, Georgia, Nebraska and Idaho had six more shootings.
Some experts caution that a one-year decline doesn’t tell us very much and a decline in the number of police interactions may be a factor (arrests, for instance, declined dramatically from 2019 to 2020, the most recent year for which FBI data is available).
Police violence has been on the rise since the 1980s, according to University of Washington research that has been published in the Lancet. The research compiled independent and federal data in an attempt to get a full picture of police killings in the U.S.
However, other police reform experts interviewed by ABC News are cautiously optimistic about a potential inflection point in police use of force.
They say the call for accountability from protesters and leaders may be behind this apparent change, including what could be an increased conscientiousness on the part of officers in what otherwise may have become deadly altercations.
“We’ve seen the power of protesting in reshaping the public consciousness,” said Howard Henderson, the director of the Center for Justice Research at Texas Southern University. “We’ve been able to see the role of protesting and making sure that the policymakers recognize the concerns of the constituents.”
In Orlando, where the department has been working to change community policing, there were five fatal police shootings in 2020. In 2021, there was one. The numbers, though small, are significant, the department says, in highlighting the impact of efforts made to address community criticisms of police and reduce violence.
“The Orlando Police Department is dedicated to protecting our residents, visitors, and businesses,” an OPD spokesperson said in a statement about the drop in fatal police shootings and the efforts to improve policing. OPD has averaged 3.3 fatal shootings a year since 2015, the data shows.
“We are fully committed to listening to our community’s concerns and to engaging in conversations that will yield a path to positive and long-lasting relationships with our community members,” the statement read.
Tools for change
OPD’s Community Response Team launched in March 2021, but it has already answered 827 calls, assisted 815 people, and helped more than 300 of them access mental health treatment, according to Capt. Lovetta Quinn-Henry, who oversees the program.
Black men, Quinn-Henry said, make up the largest demographic of users.
“I’m just super proud that our agency has taken the first step to be one of the leading agencies to look at an alternative response to police for individuals in a mental health crisis,” Quinn-Henry said.
With these calls, she says responders focus on de-escalating situations, helping people in distress and connecting them with their needed treatment, support and resources.
This effort has reduced referrals to the criminal justice system for distressed individuals, decreased potential for violent interactions and lessens the burden of work on law enforcement officers, Quinn-Henry said.
Some of the seemingly minor mental health-related calls that this team responds to have the potential to escalate into police shootings when law enforcement is involved.
“We really weren’t servicing the individual [before],” Quinn-Henry added. “Having this alternative response gives us a little bit more opportunity to connect them to services. So, now the officers aren’t having those repeat calls. And we get them at the initial crisis level and prevent them from getting to that very acute aggressive level.”
This idea isn’t completely new: This kind of model has effectively been implemented in Oregon, Colorado, Washington and more.
Another initiative replicated across the country is OPD’s citizen review board.
Orlando, like many other cities, established a citizen review board — an independent citizen-run oversight committee — about 10 years ago, to address concerns with local policing.
But board member Tom Keen said that after Floyd’s death and the movement against police use-of-force that followed, CRB meetings went from having just a few participants to having dozens. Community engagement increased dramatically, Keen said, offering citizens and police more insight into civilian relations with the police.
“We can’t take our eye off the ball,” Keen said. “We have to stay focused on making sure that our police department is well-trained and that they are serving the community and that’s one of the jobs of the board.”
Some community members have said they wish the board had more say in the investigative and punitive efforts in cases of abuse of power and use of force, but for now, Keen said, the board has been a valuable venue for citizens to speak directly with law enforcement to voice and plan a way to address concerns.
“We’re one of many voices for change and we’ve been fortunate that we’ve had very good leadership with both the mayor and with our current police chief,” Keen said.
OPD is also implementing a Response to Resistance policy that outlines a new use-of-force framework that is intended to mitigate the potential for excessive force. A recent independent review of the department by the police accountability research organization The Bowman Group is helping the agency fix its “very weak policy system,” according to OPD.
The power of protest
Millions have taken to the streets around the world since Floyd’s murder by former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin.
“I think people are conscientious over what looks like a disconnect between the police and, particularly, communities of color,” said James E. Wright II, an assistant professor at Florida State University.
“Police officers are more conscientious of their actions now,” he added. “They understand they don’t want to end up on the six o’clock news. If they’re conscientious of this behavior, they’re also conscientious of when they’re negligent.”
ABC News contributor and former NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said that the protests are likely to have had a large impact on how officers engage with and police communities.
“What happens across the country, due to the 24-hour news cycle, affects everywhere in the country,” Boyce said in an interview. “If we had strong federal leadership on this, we would be able to have national standards in law enforcement where you wouldn’t have these [abuse of force] behaviors.”
Local leaders have also started to answer the demands of the public in several ways, according to Henderson.
Since Floyd’s death in May 2020, at least 3,428 state bills or executive actions on policing have been introduced, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, which tracks state-based law enforcement legislation.
There has also been a rise in protocol changes that reduce the potential for confrontation or incarceration, like ending the enforcement of minor traffic violations or decriminalizing marijuana.
And there has also been a push to implement alternative policing units, civilian review boards, and beef up use-of-force and de-escalation training.
However, some researchers say a single-year push for reform and a drop in shootings isn’t enough to signal progress. Experts say the real test of how much impact these new tools are having remains to be seen in the years to come.
“Research shows that since 1980, 17,000 killings by police have gone uncounted,” Henderson said, citing the University of Washington report. “In order to adequately deal with it, you’ve got to know the extent to which it exists.”
Secondly, he emphasized decreasing unnecessary interactions between the police and the community.
“There’s just way too much interaction that we don’t necessarily need to have being responded to by police officers,” he said.
Lastly, Henderson also said the “qualified immunity” of police officers may also be a sticking point in the path against reducing police use-of-force. Qualified immunity means that officers are protected from many civil lawsuits for their conduct while on duty if it “does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known,” according to the FBI.
The recent efforts and the progress being made can’t be ignored though, Wright said.
“Moving forward, [the trend] will hold up if people continue to put political pressure on their local officials as well as their local leaders to hold not just police officers, but public servants, accountable,” Wright said.
(NEW YORK) — An open door to an apartment unit where a space heater caught fire allowed the smoke to spread throughout all floors of a 19-story building in New York City on Sunday, Mayor Eric Adams told ABC News.
At least 17 people, including eight children, have died from the incident and more than 60 others were injured, according to the New York City Fire Department. All 17 victims died of accidental smoke inhalation, the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner ruled Tuesday.
The city passed a law in 2018 mandating self-closing doors in all apartment buildings. It’s unclear whether those were operating properly at 333 East 181st St., located in the Tremont section of the Bronx. The high-rise was built as affordable housing in 1972 and has 120 units, according to city records.
“It appears the ability to have the smoke spread is due to the door being open,” Adams told ABC News in an interview Monday on “Good Morning America.” “There may have been a maintenance issue with this door and that is going to be part of the ongoing investigation.”
So far, investigators believe the building met all other standards for fire safety. There were a couple violations documented over the last few years but no outstanding issues, according to the mayor.
“This is all going to come out during the investigation,” he added. “This is really early in the investigation.”
The flames ignited Sunday morning before 11 a.m. ET, due to a malfunctioning electric space heater in a bedroom of a duplex apartment on the third floor. In less than three hours, smoke enveloped all 19 floors. The building’s smoke alarms were operable at the time of the blaze, according to the New York City Fire Department.
More than 200 firefighters rushed to the scene of the five-alarm fire, smashing windows to rescue trapped residents. The mayor described the incident as “horrific” but praised the firefighters as heroes.
“Many of them, of their oxygen tanks were on empty,” Adams told ABC News. “But instead of turning back and exiting the building, they pushed through, through the smoke.”
Many of the injured were located on the upper floors and likely suffered from severe smoke inhalation. Approximately 13 people are in Bronx hospitals with life-threatening injuries, according to the New York City Fire Department.
The New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner has released the identities of the deceased victims, with the youngest being just 2 years old. Many of them were from the same families and had similar names, while none were carrying identification, the medical examiner’s office said.
The victims were identified as Sera Janneh, 27; Seydou Toure, 12; Haouwa Mahamadou, 5; Haji Dukary, 49; Haja Dukureh, 37; Mustapha Dukureh, 12; Mariam Dukureh, 11; Fatoumata Dukureh, 5; Fatoumata Drammeh, 5; Foutmala Drammeh, 21; Muhammed Drammeh, 12; Nyumaaisha Drammeh, 19; Omar Jambang, 6; and Fatoumata Tunkara, 43; Isatou Jabbie, 31; Hagi Jawara, 47; Ousmane Konteh, 2.
The New York City Fire Department previously reported that 19 people, including nine children, had died from the blaze, but the death toll was revised Monday due to a miscount.
All residents in need of a place to stay have been provided temporary shelter. They will later be moved into permanent housing as the building undergoes repairs, according to Adams.
“One thing about New York City, unfortunately, is that we are capable of dealing with crises,” he said. “We’ve dealt with so many of large proportion and we immediately kick in gear our coordinated efforts.”
The ongoing investigation into the deadly inferno is being led by the New York City Fire Department’s marshals.
The Bronx Park Phase III Preservation LLC, the name of the joint venture that owns the building, said in a statement Sunday that it was “devastated” over the tragedy.
“We are devastated by the unimaginable loss of life caused by this profound tragedy,” the statement read. “We are cooperating fully with the Fire Department and other city agencies as they investigate its cause, and we are doing all we can to assist our residents. Our thoughts are with the families and friends of those who lost their lives or were injured, and we are here to support them as we recover from this horrific fire.”
Sunday’s blaze was the deadliest to occur in New York City in three decades. A total of 73 people died in fires citywide in all of 2021.
ABC News’ Joshua Hoyos, Julia Jacobo, Aaron Katersky and Ileana Riveros contributed to this report.
