COVID-19 live updates: Fauci predicts most states will be past omicron peak by mid-February

COVID-19 live updates: Fauci predicts most states will be past omicron peak by mid-February
COVID-19 live updates: Fauci predicts most states will be past omicron peak by mid-February
Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images

(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 853,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

About 63% 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 19, 4:10 pm
Fauci predicts most states will be past omicron peak by mid-February

Dr. Anthony Fauci predicts that most states will be past the omicron peak by mid-February.

“I would imagine as we get into February, into the middle of February, first few weeks of February, it is very likely that most of the states in the country will have turned around with their peak and are starting to come down with regard to cases, and then obviously hospitalizations,” Fauci said at a Blue Star Families event.

“Right now, there’s no doubt that in New York City and other parts of New York state and in New Jersey, it has already peaked and is rather dramatically on its way down,” Fauci said. “We’re seeing that also in bigger cities such as Chicago, where as in cities in the South, it has not yet peaked and likely will have more of a slower incline and a slower decline, such as in places like New Orleans and in other cities in Louisiana.”

Fauci said he expects data on vaccines for kids under 5 will be delivered to the FDA in the next month.

“They’re determining now that for children within that age group, it is likely that it will be a three-dose vaccine. And that being the case, it’s going to take a little longer to get those data to the FDA and approved,” he explained. “My hope is that it’s going to be within the next month or so and not much later than that. But I can’t guarantee that because I can’t out guess the FDA, I’m gonna have to leave that to them.”

-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett

Jan 19, 3:33 pm
Pennsylvania nurse opens up about ‘overflowing’ hospital

On average, about 21,000 virus-positive Americans are being admitted to hospitals each day — a figure that has more than doubled over the last month.

WellSpan Chambersburg Hospital in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, has more patients now than any point in the pandemic, according to nurse Erin Hammond.

“Our emergency rooms are full to overflowing. Our critical care unit has now doubled up rooms. We’re taking more patients — sicker patients — than we ever have before,” Hammond told ABC News.

She noted that she’s seen people in their 20s, 30s and 40s “ending up very sick and dying.”

“It’s incredibly difficult seeing patients die day after day after day,” she said. And after a patient dies, the hospital must “refill their beds as quickly as they emptied.”

-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos

Jan 19, 2:50 pm
New Mexico asks state workers, National Guard to be substitute teachers

New Mexico leaders are asking state employees and National Guard members to volunteer as substitute teachers and child care workers due to “extreme staffing shortages” amid the COVID-19 case surge.

“Many schools are being forced to shift to online learning and child care facilities are being forced to temporarily close when staff members test positive,” state officials said in a statement Wednesday.

Since the holidays, about 60 school districts and charter schools switched to remote learning and 75 child care centers partially or completely closed due to staffing shortages, according to the state.

“The additional staffing will allow schools to avoid the disruptive process of switching between remote and in-person learning and prevent child care programs from having to shut down,” state officials said.

The volunteers would have to complete the requirements necessary to be licensed as a substitute, including a background check and an online workshop.

Jan 19, 11:45 am
27 million visits so far to USPS order form from COVIDTests.gov

While it’s not clear how many people have placed an order for free COVID-19 tests since the White House’s site launched Tuesday, the order form on the U.S. Postal Service website — special.usps.com/testkits — has been visited over 27 million times so far.

This initiative from the Biden administration’ allows Americans to order up to four free at-home rapid tests per household.

-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett

Jan 19, 10:37 am
US deaths expected to increase after weeks of surging cases

Following weeks of increasing cases, forecast models used by the CDC suggest that U.S. death totals will likely continue to increase over the next four weeks.

The models predict about 32,000 more Americans could die from COVID-19 over just the next two weeks.

By Feb. 12, about 931,000 total lives could be lost in the U.S. to the virus.

The CDC obtains the 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 19, 9:28 am
England to end many COVID-19 restrictions, including mask wearing

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Wednesday the end of all COVID-19 measures in England that were imposed to combat the highly contagious omicron variant.

Effective immediately, secondary school students will no longer be required to wear face masks in classrooms. Starting next week, masks will not be compulsory anywhere, including on public transport and in shops. However, Johnson said his government will continue to advise people to wear masks in indoor or crowded settings.

The work-from-home guidance will also be lifted next week, along with mandatory COVID-19 passes at large venues, though business are allowed to use them if they wish.

People will still be required to self-isolate after testing positive for COVID-19, but the prime minister said there will “soon be a time” when that won’t be mandated. The measure is due to expire in March, but Johnson said that date could be brought forward.

So-called Plan B restrictions were introduced in England last December amid a surge of COVID-19 cases as omicron quickly spread across the United Kingdom. The country’s daily number of new cases remains high but appears to be dropping over the past week along with hospital admissions, while deaths are increasing.

Jan 19, 2:22 am
Global new cases increased 20% last week, WHO says

Newly reported COVID-19 cases increased 20% last week, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday.

More than 18 million new cases were reported in the week ending Jan. 16, up from about 15 million in the previous week, according to the United Nation’s health agency’s weekly epidemiological update.

Last week’s increase marked a decline from the 55% increase reported the previous week, the agency said.

“Nonetheless, a combination of the increased and rapid spread of the Omicron variant, increased population movements and social mixing during and after the end of year holiday period and challenges with ongoing adherence to public health and social measures (PHSM) are expected to lead to increased number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths in the coming weeks,” Tuesday’s report said.

About 45,000 new deaths were reported worldwide last week, up from about 43,000 the previous week, the agency said.

Jan 18, 7:11 pm
White House to make 400 million N95 masks available for free

The Biden administration will make 400 million non-surgical N95 masks available for free at tens of thousands of pharmacies and community health centers, a White House official said Tuesday.

The administration will start shipping out the masks, which are coming from the Strategic National Stockpile, at the end of this week. Masks will start to be available at pharmacies and community health centers by late next week, with the program “fully up and running” by early February, the official said.

President Joe Biden had announced last week that the administration would be launching a program to provide high-quality masks to Americans for free, but did not provide details.

The announcement comes on the heels of updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that stated that loosely woven cloth masks provide the least amount of protection against COVID-19, and that Americans in some cases might want to opt for higher quality masks like KN95 and N95 respirators.

-ABC News’ Molly Nagle

Jan 18, 5:47 pm
75% of Americans have received at least 1 vaccine dose: CDC

Three-quarters of all Americans — nearly 250 million people — have now received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, according to updated data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

On average, around 296,000 Americans daily are receiving their first shot, down by about 35% since mid-December, federal data shows.

Some 62.7 million eligible Americans — those ages 5 and up — are unvaccinated.

-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos

Jan 18, 5:35 pm
Nearly 1 million US children tested positive for COVID-19 last week

Around 981,000 children in the United States tested positive for COVID-19 last week, according to a new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association.

This “dramatic” uptick is a nearly 70% increase over the 580,000 added cases reported the week ending Jan. 6, and a tripling of case counts from the two weeks prior, the organizations said.

With nearly 9.5 million children having tested positive for the virus since the onset of the pandemic, that means 10% of those cases were in the past week alone.

In recent weeks, there has been a significant increase in demand for coronavirus tests as more Americans are exposed to the virus. Many students have also been tested as they return to school, which can lead to an increase in these numbers.

The organizations said there is an “urgent” need to collect more age-specific data to assess the severity of illness related to new variants as well as potential longer-term effects, and noted in their report that a small proportion of cases have resulted in hospitalization and death.

The rising number of pediatric cases has renewed the push for vaccination. Nearly 19% of children ages 5 to 11 and about 55% of those ages 12 to 17 are fully vaccinated, according to federal data.

-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

COVID-19 live updates: White House to make 400 million N95 masks available for free

COVID-19 live updates: Fauci predicts most states will be past omicron peak by mid-February
COVID-19 live updates: Fauci predicts most states will be past omicron peak by mid-February
Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images

(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 853,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

About 63% 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 19, 2:22 am
Global new cases increased 20% last week, WHO says

Newly reported COVID-19 cases increased 20% last week, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday.

More than 18 million new cases were reported in the week ending Jan. 16, up from about 15 million in the previous week, according to the United Nation’s health agency’s weekly epidemiological update.

Last week’s increase marked a decline from the 55% increase reported the previous week, the agency said.

“Nonetheless, a combination of the increased and rapid spread of the Omicron variant, increased population movements and social mixing during and after the end of year holiday period and challenges with ongoing adherence to public health and social measures (PHSM) are expected to lead to increased number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths in the coming weeks,” Tuesday’s report said.

About 45,000 new deaths were reported worldwide last week, up from about 43,000 the previous week, the agency said.

Jan 18, 7:11 pm
White House to make 400 million N95 masks available for free

The Biden administration will make 400 million non-surgical N95 masks available for free at tens of thousands of pharmacies and community health centers, a White House official said Tuesday.

The administration will start shipping out the masks, which are coming from the Strategic National Stockpile, at the end of this week. Masks will start to be available at pharmacies and community health centers by late next week, with the program “fully up and running” by early February, the official said.

President Joe Biden had announced last week that the administration would be launching a program to provide high-quality masks to Americans for free, but did not provide details.

The announcement comes on the heels of updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that stated that loosely woven cloth masks provide the least amount of protection against COVID-19, and that Americans in some cases might want to opt for higher quality masks like KN95 and N95 respirators.

-ABC News’ Molly Nagle

Jan 18, 5:47 pm
75% of Americans have received at least 1 vaccine dose: CDC

Three-quarters of all Americans — nearly 250 million people — have now received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, according to updated data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

On average, around 296,000 Americans daily are receiving their first shot, down by about 35% since mid-December, federal data shows.

Some 62.7 million eligible Americans — those ages 5 and up — are unvaccinated.

-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos

Jan 18, 5:35 pm
Nearly 1 million US children tested positive for COVID-19 last week

Around 981,000 children in the United States tested positive for COVID-19 last week, according to a new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association.

This “dramatic” uptick is a nearly 70% increase over the 580,000 added cases reported the week ending Jan. 6, and a tripling of case counts from the two weeks prior, the organizations said.

With nearly 9.5 million children having tested positive for the virus since the onset of the pandemic, that means 10% of those cases were in the past week alone.

In recent weeks, there has been a significant increase in demand for coronavirus tests as more Americans are exposed to the virus. Many students have also been tested as they return to school, which can lead to an increase in these numbers.

The organizations said there is an “urgent” need to collect more age-specific data to assess the severity of illness related to new variants as well as potential longer-term effects, and noted in their report that a small proportion of cases have resulted in hospitalization and death.

The rising number of pediatric cases has renewed the push for vaccination. Nearly 19% of children ages 5 to 11 and about 55% of those ages 12 to 17 are fully vaccinated, according to federal data.

-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

COVID-19 cases in NYC show omicron infections may be plummeting

COVID-19 cases in NYC show omicron infections may be plummeting
COVID-19 cases in NYC show omicron infections may be plummeting
Wang Fan/China News Service via Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — New York City’s surge of COVID-19 cases fueled by the omicron variant appears to be falling just as quickly as it rose.

Tens of thousands of infections are still being reported every day, and the test positivity rate is still above 20%. However, after cases increased 26-fold in just one month, they have now fallen by 17% over the last week, an ABC News analysis found.

After recording a peak of ​​50,803 COVID-19 cases on Jan. 3, just 9,202 cases were reported on Jan. 14, according to data from the New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene.

In addition, hospitalizations are declining, and the number of wastewater samples that have detected the virus have also plunged.

“Infections are coming down, even visits to the emergency room are coming down,” Dr. Ali Mokdad, an epidemiologist with the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation in Seattle, told ABC News. “And usually we see when there is a surge, we see visits to the emergency rooms going up.”

Mokdad, who helps lead a model that projects COVID-19 cases around the country, added, “All the indications of the people being tested and found to be positive show that [omicron] appears on its way down.”

On Dec. 2, the first case of omicron tied to New York City was reported in a Minnesota resident who had traveled to the Big Apple in November to attend an anime convention.

From there, COVID-19 cases began spiking. Within two weeks, the city was reporting an average of nearly 7,600 infections per day, up from 1,600 per day.

Studies have since shown that omicron is more likely to pass between vaccinated people than prior variants, though vaccines still dramatically reduce the risk of severe illness.

Coupled with the cold weather and people gathering for the holidays, Mokdad said it is no surprise the virus spread as quickly as it did.

Even coronavirus levels in wastewater samples were showing that a surge was coming, according to wastewater analytics company Biobot.

“The scale of the amount of virus that was detected in wastewater was far greater than any point in the pandemic, so much so that [the company] had to rebuild some of the graphs around the scales, because so much more virus was being collected more than any time,” said Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist who is a member of Biobot’s board of advisers and an ABC News contributor. “It gave us that early sense that we were going to deal with this massive surge.”

However, there are signs the city may have hit its omicron peak.

New York City has been reporting nearly 11 straight days of COVID-19 case declines and is averaging about 15,000 new infections per day, down from roughly 36,000 just two weeks ago.

In yet another sign that the city’s surge may be ebbing, New York City no longer holds the nation’s highest case rate — Rhode Island now does, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Hospitalizations have also declined from an average of 992 new admissions on Jan. 6 to 496 as of Jan. 15, according to the city’s health department.

Mount Sinai Health System, one of New York City’s largest hospital systems, has seen new daily COVID-19 hospital admissions remain relatively flat over the last week to 10 days. About one-third of patients are admitted for other reasons and then test positive during their stays, Dr. Bernard Camins, medical director for infection prevention at Mount Sinai, told ABC News.

He said hospitalizations will not significantly come down until two or three weeks from now, because they are a lagging indicator.

“When people get sick enough with COVID, now they are going to come into the hospital, and it does take a delay,” Camins said. “Sometimes people start having symptoms but they’re not sick enough to need the hospital until Day 7 or 10 days later.”

He added, “Eventually the ones who were coming into the hospital with ‘moderate symptoms’ or maybe severe enough to need oxygen, it does take them a few more days lag in terms of needing ventilators.”

A rapid rise in cases followed by a dramatic decline is similar to what has been seen in other countries that detected omicron before the U.S.

In South Africa, where the variant was first identified, the surge looked like an “ice pick,” according to CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky. In early December, the country was averaging about 10,000 cases per day, quickly rising to 20,000 by mid-December.

But, by early January, when New York City was experiencing its peak, the average number of COVID-19 infections in South Africa had already fallen to about 8,000 per day.

“What we know and are certain about from data from South Africa and the U.K., when omicron takes hold in a location, it takes about a month to go up and a month to come down,” Mokdad said.

Even though the surge is not entirely over yet, Mokdad said New York’s decline is a signal for the rest of the country, with the Midwest about one week behind and the West Coast two or three weeks behind.

The University of Washington’s own model suggests that the U.S. will peak at about 1.2 million cases Jan.17, and then all states will be on their way down by the end of January, Mokdad said, adding that he is still encouraging vaccination and mask-wearing.

“Everybody who’s out and about will be infected by then,” he said. “This is like infecting everybody out there, so basically, it’s running out of people to infect and it’s going to start coming down because there’s no more people to infect.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Fashion icon Andre Leon Talley dead at 73

Fashion icon Andre Leon Talley dead at 73
Fashion icon Andre Leon Talley dead at 73
Taylor Hill/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — Fashion icon and former Vogue editor André Leon Talley has died at age 73, a statement released on his official Instagram confirmed late Tuesday.

“It is with great sadness we announce the passing of André Leon Talley on January 18, 2022 in New York,” the statement read. “Mr. Talley was the larger-than-life, longtime creative director at Vogue during its rise to dominance as the world’s fashion bible.”

The cause of his death was not disclosed.

“Over the past five decades as an international icon was a close confidant of Yves Saint Laurent, Karl Lagerfeld, Paloma Picasso and he had a penchant for discovering, nurturing and celebrating young designers. His byline appeared in Vanity Fair, HG, Interview, Ebony and Women’s Wear Daily and he was the editor of Numero Russia,” the statement continued. “Mr. Talley wrote several books, including Valentino, A.L.T.: A Memoir, A.L.T. 365+ and Little Black Dress for Assouline, and contributed to Valentino: At the Emperor’s Table and Cartier Panthère. He was the subject of the documentary The Gospel According to André and his recent memoir, The Chiffon Trenches became a New York Times Best Seller.”

Talley was an American fashion journalist known for his work in shaping U.S. Vogue and fashion as a whole. He was the magazine’s fashion news director from 1983 to 1987 and its creative director from 1988 to 1995. He was later made editor-at-large, a position he held until 2013.

Talley, who later became the head of Numéro Russia magazine, remained an occasional contributor to Vogue following his departure as editor, and in 2019, wrote a piece honoring his late friend, designer Karl Lagerfeld, who died in February of that year.

“In 2014, he was named artistic director of Zappos Couture, and he has been on the Board of Trustees of Savannah College of Art and Design since 2000,” the statement on his Instagram reads. “Mr. Talley was awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French Republic in 2020 and the North Carolina Governor’s award for literature in 2021. He was a long-standing member of Harlem’s Abyssinian Baptist Church.”

Apart from his contributions to Vogue, the six-foot-six star, known and loved for his sense of humor, honesty and loud, luxurious personal style — especially when it came to designer caftans, was an author, curator and TV personality. He starred in “America’s Next Top Model” for four seasons, as a judge, made cameos on “Empire” and the first “Sex and the City” movie, dressed and profiled then-first lady Michelle Obama for Vogue, had a front row seat at the most prestigious couture shows around the world, became the muse and confidant of many designers — including Oscar de la Renta, whom he curated a museum exhibition for in 2018 — and, for many years, was the right-hand man of fashion’s leading lady: Anna Wintour.

In 2017, filmmaker Kate Novack released a documentary, “The Gospel According to Andre,” about the style legend — starting from his humble upbringing to his rise to the top of the fashion industry.

Throughout his career, the Durham, North Carolina, native made efforts to introduce more culturally diverse voices into the overwhelmingly white fashion industry and spoke out about his struggles with racism. In his 2020 book, “The Chiffon Trenches: A Memoir,” he recalled the emotion he felt when Edward Enninful was named the first Black editor-in-chief of British Vogue. That same year, Talley sent shockwaves across the fashion world when he spoke out about the lack of Black talent at Vogue. “At one point, I was the only Black person on Anna’s staff,” he told MailOnline.

In his 2003 memoir, “A.L.T.,” Talley described his childhood in Durham, where he was raised by his grandmother and worked as a taxi driver to save money. When it was time for college, he enrolled in North Carolina Central University, where he majored in French, and later, got a scholarship to Brown University, for his master’s. Soon after graduating, Talley got his first job in fashion as a volunteer assistant to Diana Vreeland at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. Once inside the fashion bubble, he landed a position at Andy Warhol’s Interview magazine, where his career as a journalist took off, and later moved around to WWD, Vanity Fair, Vogue and various other publications.

Talley had largely stayed off social media since 2021, when he was involved in a financial mess over the ownership of the Westchester mansion where he lived since 2004, and which previously belonged to the former CEO of Manolo Blahnik.

After hearing of his death, fashion insiders and friends have taken to social media to share their condolences and honor his memory.

Designer Diane von Furstenberg wrote on Instagram, “Good bye darling André ❤️🙏… no one saw the world in a more glamorous way than you did ❤️🙏… no one was grander and more soulful than you were ❤️🙏…the world will be less joyfulI ❤️🙏 I have loved you and laughed with you for 45 years…. I miss your loud screams …I love you soooo much ❤️🙏.”

Marc Jacobs posted a throwback photo of himself with Talley on Instagram, and wrote in the caption, “I am in shock. You championed me and you have been my friend since my beginning. Our chats, the moments we shared….oh my friend. You and your passions were larger than life. I love you and I will miss you dear Andre. Rest In Peace.”

Lindsay Peoples Wagner, editor in chief of The Cut, wrote on Instagram: “Not even sure how to wrap my mind around all you’ve done, and the legacy you’ve left behind, but you gave us hope and aspirations that we never would have dreamed if it hadn’t been for you andre.”

“Thank you for your knowledge and passion for fashion and glamour,” designer Bob Mackie wrote on Instagram. “You will be missed.”

Hollywood and Broadway praised Talley as a man who dressed himself and others with a singular vision. “Rest well king,” Viola Davis wrote on Instagram.

Talley was a “truly original heart, spirit and mind. He cast a giant shadow and will not soon be forgotten,” author and actor Harvey Fierstein said on Twitter.

“For a little black gay boy who reached for the stars from the south there were few people I could look up to up there amongst the stars who looked like me just more fab except for you Andre,” playwright Jeremy O. Harris said on Twitter. “For a generation of boys Andre Leon Talley was a beacon of grace and aspiration. RIP.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Vigil held for woman pushed in front of train and killed by stranger in NYC

Vigil held for woman pushed in front of train and killed by stranger in NYC
Vigil held for woman pushed in front of train and killed by stranger in NYC
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — Dozens of New Yorkers, leaders and activists came out to Times Square Tuesday night to honor Michelle Go, who was killed when she was pushed in front of a subway train by a stranger in what her family called a “senseless act of violence.”

On Saturday morning, Simon Martial allegedly pushed Go in front of an oncoming train on the N/Q/R/W line inside the Times Square-42nd Street subway station, police said.

News of Go’s death disturbed the city’s Asian American community, which has seen a rise in hate crimes over the last two years, according to Ben Wei, the founder and executive director of the nonprofit Asians Fighting Injustice. Wei’s group helped to organize the vigil in Times Square as a way to remember Go and send a message that the city did not tolerate hate.

“Today we are here to honor the memory of Michelle Alyssa Go and pay respect to the way she lived her life,” he said.

A portrait of Go, 40, was displayed on a big screen billboard behind the steps and many of the vigil members had her picture in her hands.

Go’s family said in a statement that they remembered her as a “beautiful, brilliant, kind, and intelligent woman who loved her family and friends, loved to travel the world and help others.”

Go worked as a consultant for Deloitte and spent her free time volunteering as an advocate for the homeless, according to New York ABC station WABC.

Wei said he talked with a lot of Go’s friends and co-workers over the last few days and they told him she was a caring, humble woman.

“Michelle was giving, she was the best friend that anyone could have,” Wei said.

Martial has been charged with murder and is awaiting arraignment. New York Police Department Commissioner Keechant Sewell said during a Saturday press conference that the attack was “unprovoked” and that Go didn’t appear to interact with Martial.

The investigation was ongoing. Part of that investigation will look into whether the attack was a hate crime.

ABC News wasn’t able to reach an attorney for Martial for additional comments.

Go’s family demanded justice.

“We are in a state of shock and grieving the loss of our daughter, sister and friend. We hope Michelle will be remembered for how she lived and not just how she died,” the family said in a statement. “Her life was taken too soon in a senseless act of violence and we pray that she gets the justice she deserves.”

Elected officials echoed that call during the vigil.

U.S. Rep. Grace Meng said New Yorkers are terrified by the recent jump in Asian American hate crimes. In the fall, the FBI released data that showed hate crimes against Asians was up by 76% in 2020.

Meng vowed to bring changes that would ensure that the community could walk the streets safe.

“We come together today and in the weeks and months ahead to honor the work and legacy of people like Michelle,” she said.

Mayor Eric Adams said he would increase police patrols and pair them with mental health professionals to prevent more subway attacks.

“We must ensure we have a plan of intervention and prevention,” he said at the vigil.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Judge blocks hospital from turning off ventilator of severely ill COVID-19 patient

Judge blocks hospital from turning off ventilator of severely ill COVID-19 patient
Judge blocks hospital from turning off ventilator of severely ill COVID-19 patient
Google Maps Street View

(COON RAPIDS, Minn.) — A Minnesota man with COVID who had been fighting for his life for months was transferred to a new hospital days after a judge blocked another hospital from taking him off a ventilator.

The decision allowed Scott Quiner, 55, of Buffalo, Minnesota, to be moved to a hospital in Texas, where he is being treated.

Quiner was initially admitted to Waconia Hospital, and then transferred to the ICU at Mercy Hospital, in Coon Rapids, on Nov. 6, after he tested positive for the virus in late October, according to a GoFundMe page in support of Quiner’s family, and the StarTribune, which was first to report this story.

Anne Quiner, Scott’s wife, was granted a temporary restraining order last Thursday against Mercy Hospital, after doctors informed her that day that they would be disconnecting her husband from the ventilator that had been supporting him since the late fall.

The order, from an Anoka County judge, prohibited the hospital from turning off ventilation support, while Anne Quiner searched for a new facility to care for her husband.

According to the court order, Anne Quiner told doctors that as her husband’s health care proxy, she “vehemently disagree[d]” with these actions and did not want her husband’s ventilator turned off.

Over the weekend, Scott Quiner was moved to a facility in Texas for treatment, Marjorie J. Holsten, the Quiner family’s attorney, told ABC News in a statement on Monday.

“A doctor evaluated him and determined that he was severely undernourished. Scott has been receiving much-needed nourishment and hydration and medications that were not given by Mercy,” Holsten said. “He is being weaned off of the sedating drugs and has already been able to follow with his eyes movements the doctor made with his hands. He is making progress in the right direction, though he has a long road ahead of him and continued prayers are appreciated.”

Quiner remains on a ventilator but the oxygen level has been lowered, the family’s lawyer said.

Representatives from Allina Health, which operates Mercy Hospital, told ABC News that they wish the patient and the family well, and have “great confidence” in their team’s work.

“Allina Health has great confidence in the exceptional care provided to our patients, which is administered according to evidence-based practices by our talented and compassionate medical teams. Due to patient privacy, we cannot comment on care provided to specific patients,” the health system wrote. “Allina Health continues to wish the patient and family well. Any information regarding the patient’s on-going care should be directed to his current medical provider.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

COVID-19 live updates: Biden administration website to order free tests goes live

COVID-19 live updates: Biden administration website to order free tests goes live
COVID-19 live updates: Biden administration website to order free tests goes live
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

(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 851,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

About 62.9% 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 18, 4:03 pm
No ICU beds left in Oklahoma City: ‘We are struggling to keep up’

All intensive care units are full in Oklahoma City, where 117 patients are in emergency rooms waiting for an open bed, Dr. Julie Watson, chief medical Officer of INTEGRIS Health, said Tuesday.

Some patients have been waiting more than 24 hours for an available ICU bed, Watson said.

“Our emergency departments are overflowing. Our health care professionals are exhausted. We’ve been working nearly nonstop for over two years now,” Watson said at a news conference. “Omicron cases are rising faster than previous variants and we are struggling to keep up.”

“We aren’t able to care for patients the way we normally do,” she continued. “It feels, and sometimes even looks, like a war zone. … We have to care for patients in hallways, sometimes closets.”

Oklahoma City hospitals are also experiencing staffing shortages and supply chain shortages.

“Some days we don’t have syringes, or saline or chest tube setups,” she said.

-ABC News’ Katherine Carroll

Jan 18, 3:23 pm
Kansas to end contact tracing

Kansas will end its contact tracing program at the end January due to an overwhelming number of COVID-19 cases and a “diminished” willingness of people to take part, the state health department announced Tuesday.

“As we enter the third year of this pandemic, public health has to begin to adjust the level of response to help alleviate the strain on the Public Health system,” Janet Stanek, acting secretary of the state’s Department of Health and Environment, said in a statement. “The pandemic is far from over, but this step is a move toward managing COVID-19 as an endemic disease. The responsibility of protecting yourself and others belongs to all of us.”

-ABC News’ Will McDuffie

Jan 18, 2:50 pm
Stephen A. Smith opens up about illness: ‘I didn’t know if I was gonna make it’

ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith is opening up about his intense COVID-19 battle.

After Smith tested positive in December, he said he had a 103 degree fever every night.

“Woke up with chills and a pool of sweat. Headaches were massive. Coughing profusely,” Smith said, according to The New York Post.

Smith said he was admitted to the hospital over New Year’s with pneumonia in both lungs.

“They told me, had I not been vaccinated, I wouldn’t be here. That’s how bad it was,” he said.

Smith is now back to work, but he said, “two-and-a-half, three weeks ago, I didn’t know if I was gonna make it.”

-ABC News’ Will Gretsky

Disney is the parent company of ABC News and ESPN.

Jan 18, 2:05 pm
New York cases down 75% from early January

New York state, hit hard by the omicron surge over the holidays, is seeing COVID-19 cases down 75% from early January, state officials said.

New York reported 22,312 new cases Tuesday, according to state data. On Jan. 7, New York state recorded 90,132 daily cases.

The seven-day average of new cases is down 38.9% from the previous week and the seven-day average of hospital admissions dropped 13.6% from the previous week, according to state data.

“We hope to close the books on this winter surge soon,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said Tuesday.

-ABC News’ Will Gretsky

Jan 18, 12:30 pm
Biden administration website to order free tests goes live

The Biden administration’s website to order four free at-home rapid tests per household is now live at covidtests.gov.

The tests won’t ship for another seven to 12 days.

-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett

Jan 18, 11:45 am
Omicron accounts for 99.5% of new cases in US: CDC

Omicron is estimated to account for 99.5% of new cases in the U.S. as of Saturday, according to new forecast data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday.

In early-December, omicron was estimated to account for just 0.6% of all new cases. The delta variant now accounts for only 0.5% of new U.S. cases, forecasters estimate.

These percentages are calculated using modeling and should be considered estimates, not exact figures.

-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos

Jan 18, 10:42 am
COVID-19 patient at center of life support battle transferred from Minnesota to Texas

A Minnesota man severely ill with COVID-19 was transferred to a Texas hospital over the weekend, after his wife was granted a temporary restraining order against the Minnesota hospital where doctors informed her they would take him off a ventilator.

Scott Quiner, 55, of Buffalo, Minnesota, tested positive for COVID-19 in late October and was initially admitted to Waconia Hospital before being transferred to the intensive care unit at Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids on Nov. 6, according to a GoFundMe page in support of the Quiner family and an article by the StarTribune, which was first to report the story.

A court order, issued last Thursday and obtained by ABC News, prohibited Mercy Hospital from disconnecting the ventilator that had been supporting Scott Quiner for months while his wife, Anne Quiner, searched for a new facility to continue his care. An Anoka County judge granted the order after health care providers advised Anne Quiner that they “intend[ed] to take actions on Thursday, January 13, 2022, that [would] end [her] husband’s life.”

According to court documents, Anne Quiner told doctors that, as her husband’s health care proxy, she “vehemently disagree[d]” with these actions, and did not want her husband’s ventilator turned off.

Over the weekend, Scott Quiner was subsequently moved to a facility in Texas for treatment, according to the Quiner family’s attorney, Marjorie J. Holsten.

“A doctor evaluated him and determined that he was severely undernourished. Scott has been receiving much-needed nourishment and hydration and medications that were not given by Mercy,” Holsten told ABC News in a statement Monday. “He is being weaned off of the sedating drugs and has already been able to follow with his eyes movements the doctor made with his hands. He is making progress in the right direction, though he has a long road ahead of him and continued prayers are appreciated.”

Representatives for Allina Health, which operates Mercy Hospital, said they wish the patient and his family well and have “great confidence” in their team’s work.

“Allina Health has great confidence in the exceptional care provided to our patients, which is administered according to evidence-based practices by our talented and compassionate medical teams. Due to patient privacy, we cannot comment on care provided to specific patients,” the health system told ABC News in a statement Monday. “Allina Health continues to wish the patient and family well. Any information regarding the patient’s on-going care should be directed to his current medical provider.”

-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos

Jan 18, 7:30 am
Hong Kong to cull 2,000 small animals after hamsters test positive

Some 2,000 hamsters and other small animals will be culled in Hong Kong amid fears over possible animal-to-human transmission of COVID-19, authorities announced Tuesday.

The move came after an employee at the Little Boss pet store in Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay shopping district tested positive for the highly contagious delta variant on Monday. Further testing revealed at least 11 hamsters in the shop, imported from the Netherlands, were also infected, according to authorities.

The store has been shuttered and its hamsters, rabbits and chinchillas will all be tested and euthanized. Anyone who visited the shop since Jan. 7 is being urged to get in touch with authorities. Although officials said there is no evidence animals can transmit the virus to humans, they are not ruling out the possibility.

As a precautionary measure, authorities said they will seize all hamsters in Hong Kong’s 34 licensed stores for testing before putting them down in a humane manner. Residents who purchased hamsters after Dec. 22 are being urged to hand them over to be tested and culled. The customers themselves will be subject to mandatory testing and quarantine.

Hong Kong will also cease the sale and import of small mammals, including hamsters. All shops selling hamsters in the city have been ordered to stop doing so immediately, according to authorities.

“We have assessed the risks of these batches are relatively high and therefore made the decision based on public health needs,” Dr. Leung Siu-fai, director of Hong Kong’s Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, told a press conference Tuesday. “We urge all pet owners to observe strict hygiene when handling their pets and cages. Do not kiss or abandon them on the streets.”

-ABC News’ Britt Clennett

Jan 17, 2:31 pm
Moderna working on combined COVID, flu booster

Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel told the Davos Agenda Monday that the company is working on a combined COVID-19 and flu booster shot, which could, in a “best case scenario,” be made available by fall 2023.

Bancel said the company’s goal is to be able to provide a single annual booster.

-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos

Jan 17, 2:16 pm
Fauci: Unclear whether omicron will lead world into an ‘endemic’ phase

Dr. Anthony Fauci said Monday it’s an “open question” as to whether the omicron variant will lead the globe into a new endemic phase of the pandemic.

“We were fortunate that omicron, although it is highly transmissible, nonetheless, is not as pathogenic but the sheer volume of people who are getting infected overrides that rather less level of pathogenicity,” Fauci said at the Davos Agenda, a virtual event held by the World Economic Forum.

But Fauci said it’s still unclear if omicron’s reduced severity will translate to the virus gradually becoming less prevalent.

“I would hope that that’s the case. But that would only be the case if you don’t get another variant that alludes to the immune response to the prior variant,” Fauci said, adding that it is “very difficult” to calculate how the globe could reach herd immunity.

When the globe does enter an endemic phase, Fauci said there will be a “new normal.”

“It’s not going to be that you’re going to eliminate this disease completely. We’re not going to do that. But hopefully it will be at such a low level that it doesn’t disrupt our normal, social, economic and other interactions with each other,” Fauci said. “To me, that’s what the new normal is. I hope the new normal also includes a real strong corporate memory of what pandemics can do.”

-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos

Jan 17, 11:40 am
Growing evidence suggests COVID surge may be receding in parts of US

Growing evidence suggests the omicron surge may be beginning to recede in the parts of the U.S. that were first hit by the variant.

Although new case rates remain high across much of the Northeast, daily totals are slowly beginning to fall. New York City reported a 17% drop and New Jersey reported a 17.6% drop in new cases over the last week. Washington, D.C., reported a nearly 25% decline and Vermont saw a nearly 22% decline in cases in the last week.

But health officials caution the latest surge has yet to peak for much of the U.S. The nation is still reporting nearly 800,000 new cases a day — a record high and a more than eight-fold increase compared to six weeks ago.

Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy told CNN on Sunday that Americans should not expect a decline in the days to come.

“This is a very difficult time during this surge. We are seeing high case numbers and hospitalization rates… we’re also seeing strain in many of our hospitals around the country,” Murthy said. “The next few weeks will be tough.”

Nearly 1,800 Americans are dying from COVID-19 each day – an approximately 52.6% jump since Jan. 1.

-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

3 Pennsylvania officers charged in shooting death of 8-year-old girl at high school football game

3 Pennsylvania officers charged in shooting death of 8-year-old girl at high school football game
3 Pennsylvania officers charged in shooting death of 8-year-old girl at high school football game
Delaware County District Attorney’s Office

(SHARON HILL, Penn.) — Criminal charges have been filed against three Pennsylvania police officers in connection with the shooting death of an 8-year-old girl and the wounding of three others at a high school football game last year.

The girl, Fanta Bility, was killed on Aug. 27 when gunfire broke out shortly after the conclusion of a game at Academy Park High School in Sharon Hill, a community of about 5,700 residents near the Philadelphia International Airport. Bility’s sister and two others were injured.

Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer announced the charges Tuesday against three Sharon Hill Police officers — Devon Smith, Sean Dolan and Brian Devaney — in connection with Bility’s death. The officers face a total of 12 criminal counts of manslaughter and reckless endangerment “for their actions that night,” according to a statement from the district attorney’s office.

Preliminary findings in the investigation found that return fire from the police officers after a gunfight between two teens likely struck and killed Bility, prosecutors announced in September, less than a week after the shooting.

“We have now concluded beyond a reasonable doubt that it was, in fact, shots from the officers that struck and killed Fanta Bility and injured three others,” the statement from the district attorney’s office read.

A grand jury recommended charges of voluntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment, which were all approved by the district attorney’s office.

Investigators determined that after the gun shots began, two were fired in the direction of the officers, who were monitoring the crowd exiting the stadium, prosecutors said. The officers then discharged their weapons in the direction of the football field.

The officers were placed on paid administrative leave following the shooting. The Sharon Hill Borough Council will vote on whether to fire the officers during a meeting on Thursday, according to a statement from the council.

“The entire Borough grieves for Fanta Bility and we again convey our deepest sympathies to her family and everyone affected by the shooting,” the statement read. “Today’s indictment of our police officers brings us to another solemn moment. Today we must reflect on our safety, and on those who are sworn to protect and serve.”

Bail was set at $500,000 for each officer, and preliminary hearings have been set for Jan. 27 in the Springfield District Court.

“This is a terrible tragedy that was caused by armed and violent criminals who turned a high school football game into a crime scene in which an innocent child lost her life and others were seriously injured,” Raymond Driscoll, Steven Patton and Charles Gibbs, the lawyers for the three officers, said in a joint statement. “These three officers ran to the sound of gunshots and risked their own lives to protect that community. These three good men are innocent, and remain heartbroken for all who have suffered because of this senseless violence.”

The gunfight that killed Bility began as a verbal altercation between two teens, prosecutors said. Activists criticized prosecutors for their handling of the case after arguing that the two teens who started the gun battle should be held criminally liable for Bility’s death. The pair were eventually charged with first-degree murder and other offenses.

Stollsteimer directed his office to drop the murder charges against the teens, he said in a statement Tuesday.

“While I believe these defendants should be held accountable for starting the series of events that ultimately led to Fanta Bility’s death, developments during the grand jury investigation render it appropriate to withdraw these charges at this time,” Stollsteimer said.

Hasein Strand, 18, of Collingdale, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to illegal possession of a firearm and charges of aggravated assault for his wounding of a child bystander during the gunfight. By the terms of his plea, Strand will serve a sentence of 32 to 64 months at a state correctional institute and will remain under court supervision until 2030, prosecutors said.

The other teen involved in the fight, who is 16, “remains charged with serious crimes for his attempt to kill Strand,” prosecutors said. A scheduled hearing for him was postponed last week after activists ramped up their protests.

The family is thankful for the charges brought against the officers, an attorney for the Bility family, Bruce L. Castor Jr., said in a statement released by the district attorney’s office Tuesday.

“The family appreciates that the District Attorney has kept the family informed at every stage of this investigation,” Castor said. “From the beginning he assured them that he would seek justice for Fanta, and today’s charges indicate that he’s done exactly that. They made the right call.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Alleged hostage-taker at Texas synagogue was known to British authorities, sources say

Alleged hostage-taker at Texas synagogue was known to British authorities, sources say
Alleged hostage-taker at Texas synagogue was known to British authorities, sources say
Obtained by ABC News

(COLLEYVILLE, Texas) — The man who allegedly held people hostage at a Texas synagogue on Saturday may not have appeared on any American watch lists but he was known to British authorities, law enforcement sources told ABC News.

British authorities investigated Malik Faisal Akram, a 44-year-old British citizen, about a year ago and concluded he posed no threat that would have prohibited his travel from the United Kingdom to the United States, the sources said.

When asked for comment on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the U.K. Home Office told ABC News that it would be inappropriate to comment on an ongoing police investigation.

Akram was named the slain suspect in the hourslong hostage-taking incident at the Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, about 27 miles northwest of Dallas. An armed man claiming to have planted bombs in the synagogue interrupted Shabbat services on Saturday just before 11 a.m. local time, taking a rabbi and three other people hostage, according to Colleyville Police Chief Michael Miller.

One hostage was released uninjured at around 5 p.m. CT on Saturday. An elite hostage rescue team deployed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation breached the synagogue at about 9 p.m. CT and saved the remaining hostages.

The alleged hostage-taker, identified by the FBI as Akram, died in a “shooting incident,” according to Miller and FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge Matt DeSarno, neither of whom provided further details.

Multiple law enforcement sources told ABC News that the initial indication is that Akram was shot and killed by the FBI team. The FBI said in a statement Sunday that its Shooting Incident Review Team “will conduct a thorough, factual, and objective investigation of the events.”

A motive for the incident is under investigation.

During the negotiations with authorities, Akram “spoke repeatedly about a convicted terrorist who is serving an 86-year prison sentence in the United States on terrorisms charges,” the FBI said in a statement Sunday.

“This is a terrorism-related matter, in which the Jewish community was targeted, and is being investigated by the Joint Terrorism Task Force,” the agency added. “Preventing acts of terrorism and violence is the number one priority of the FBI. Due to the continuing investigation we are unable to provide more details at this time.”

Multiple law enforcement sources told ABC News that the suspect was demanding the release of Aafia Siddiqui, who is incarcerated at Carswell Air Force Base near Fort Worth, about 16 miles southwest of Colleyville. Siddiqui, who has alleged ties to al-Qaida, was sentenced to 86 years in prison after being convicted of assault as well as attempted murder of an American soldier in 2010.

Two teenagers were arrested in southern Manchester, England, on Sunday evening in connection with the probe and “remain in custody for questioning,” according to a statement from the Greater Manchester Police. Multiple law enforcement sources told ABC News that the teens are Akram’s children. Both have been released from custody without being charged after they were questioned by British counterterrorism officers, authorities said.

Akram was from the Blackburn area of Lancashire, about 20 miles northwest of Manchester, according to Assistant Chief Constable Dominic Scally of the Greater Manchester Police, who said in a statement Sunday that counterterrorism officers are assisting their U.S. counterparts in the investigation.

Akram also has ancestral ties to Jandeela, a village in Pakistan’s Punjab province, the local police chief told ABC News. He visited Pakistan in 2020 and stayed for five months, the police chief said, a duration that may have been necessitated by COVID-19 restrictions.

Akram has been separated from his wife for two years and has five children, according to the police chief.

After arriving in the U.S. last month via a flight from London to New York City, Akram stayed at homeless shelters at various points and may have portrayed himself as experiencing homelessness in order to gain access to the Texas synagogue during Shabbat services, multiple law enforcement sources told ABC News.

U.S. President Joe Biden, who called the hostage-taking incident “an act of terror,” told reporters Sunday that investigators suspect Akram purchased a gun on the street. While Akram is alleged to have claimed he had bombs, investigators have found no evidence that he was in possession of explosives, according to Biden.

ABC News’ Joseph Simonetti contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

COVID-19 live updates: Hong Kong to cull 2,000 animals after hamsters test positive

COVID-19 live updates: Biden administration website to order free tests goes live
COVID-19 live updates: Biden administration website to order free tests goes live
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

(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 851,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

About 62.9% 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 18, 7:30 am
Hong Kong to cull 2,000 small animals after hamsters test positive

Some 2,000 hamsters and other small animals will be culled in Hong Kong amid fears over possible animal-to-human transmission of COVID-19, authorities announced Tuesday.

The move came after an employee at the Little Boss pet store in Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay shopping district tested positive for the highly contagious delta variant on Monday. Further testing revealed at least 11 hamsters in the shop, imported from the Netherlands, were also infected, according to authorities.

The store has been shuttered and its hamsters, rabbits and chinchillas will all be tested and euthanized. Anyone who visited the shop since Jan. 7 is being urged to get in touch with authorities. Although officials said there is no evidence animals can transmit the virus to humans, they are not ruling out the possibility.

As a precautionary measure, authorities said they will seize all hamsters in Hong Kong’s 34 licensed stores for testing before putting them down in a humane manner. Residents who purchased hamsters after Dec. 22 are being urged to hand them over to be tested and culled. The customers themselves will be subject to mandatory testing and quarantine.

Hong Kong will also cease the sale and import of small mammals, including hamsters. All shops selling hamsters in the city have been ordered to stop doing so immediately, according to authorities.

“We have assessed the risks of these batches are relatively high and therefore made the decision based on public health needs,” Dr. Leung Siu-fai, director of Hong Kong’s Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, told a press conference Tuesday. “We urge all pet owners to observe strict hygiene when handling their pets and cages. Do not kiss or abandon them on the streets.”

-ABC News’ Britt Clennett

Jan 17, 2:31 pm
Moderna working on combined COVID, flu booster

Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel told the Davos Agenda Monday that the company is working on a combined COVID-19 and flu booster shot, which could, in a “best case scenario,” be made available by fall 2023.

Bancel said the company’s goal is to be able to provide a single annual booster.

-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos

Jan 17, 2:16 pm
Fauci: Unclear whether omicron will lead world into an ‘endemic’ phase

Dr. Anthony Fauci said Monday it’s an “open question” as to whether the omicron variant will lead the globe into a new endemic phase of the pandemic.

“We were fortunate that omicron, although it is highly transmissible, nonetheless, is not as pathogenic but the sheer volume of people who are getting infected overrides that rather less level of pathogenicity,” Fauci said at the Davos Agenda, a virtual event held by the World Economic Forum.

But Fauci said it’s still unclear if omicron’s reduced severity will translate to the virus gradually becoming less prevalent.

“I would hope that that’s the case. But that would only be the case if you don’t get another variant that alludes to the immune response to the prior variant,” Fauci said, adding that it is “very difficult” to calculate how the globe could reach herd immunity.

When the globe does enter an endemic phase, Fauci said there will be a “new normal.”

“It’s not going to be that you’re going to eliminate this disease completely. We’re not going to do that. But hopefully it will be at such a low level that it doesn’t disrupt our normal, social, economic and other interactions with each other,” Fauci said. “To me, that’s what the new normal is. I hope the new normal also includes a real strong corporate memory of what pandemics can do.”

-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos

Jan 17, 11:40 am
Growing evidence suggests COVID surge may be receding in parts of US

Growing evidence suggests the omicron surge may be beginning to recede in the parts of the U.S. that were first hit by the variant.

Although new case rates remain high across much of the Northeast, daily totals are slowly beginning to fall. New York City reported a 17% drop and New Jersey reported a 17.6% drop in new cases over the last week. Washington, D.C., reported a nearly 25% decline and Vermont saw a nearly 22% decline in cases in the last week.

But health officials caution the latest surge has yet to peak for much of the U.S. The nation is still reporting nearly 800,000 new cases a day — a record high and a more than eight-fold increase compared to six weeks ago.

Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy told CNN on Sunday that Americans should not expect a decline in the days to come.

“This is a very difficult time during this surge. We are seeing high case numbers and hospitalization rates… we’re also seeing strain in many of our hospitals around the country,” Murthy said. “The next few weeks will be tough.”

Nearly 1,800 Americans are dying from COVID-19 each day – an approximately 52.6% jump since Jan. 1.

-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.