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(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.8 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 930,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

About 64.5% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Latest headlines:
-US daily cases drop from 807,000 to 134,000 in 1 month
-Study: People who survived COVID in 1st few months of pandemic had significantly higher risk of mental health problems
-Updated mask guidance from CDC could come next week

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern.

Feb 17, 5:03 pm
California to roll out COVID ‘endemic’ plan

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday will announce the state’s “endemic” COVID-19 plan — a vague but flexible approach that will change based off the characteristics of new variants.

State officials said clear “on and off ramps” for future restrictions will be created for specific variants.

California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said case rates could be determinative for future restrictions if there’s a deadly variant, while hospital capacity could be the primary indicator if California faces a less virulent variant, similar to omicron.

The SMARTER plan focuses on seven areas: S – Shots; M – Masks “on and off ramps that are tailored for each unique virus strain”; A – Awareness; R – Readiness; T – Testing; E – Education; and R – Rx (Treatment).

State officials are expected to publish a one to two-page SMARTER summary of the state’s current recommendations on COVID-19 in the next few days. The document will be consistently updated so Californians can reference what the state’s current recommendations are.

ABC News’ Matthew Fuhrman

Feb 17, 4:46 pm
New Mexico ends mask mandate

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Thursday the state’s mask mandate is ending, effective immediately, ABC affiliate KOAT-TV reported.

Private businesses and school districts can set their own mask rules, KOAT-TV said.

Feb 17, 12:20 pm
US daily cases drop from 807,000 to 134,000 in 1 month

In January, omicron sent U.S. cases surging to an unprecedented high, with over 807,000 daily COVID-19 cases at the nation’s peak. Exactly one month later, cases have plummeted to an average of 134,000 new cases per day, according to federal data.

Nearly every state is reporting declining case rates, but nearly 97% of U.S. counties are still reporting high transmission. Also, experts continue to caution that many Americans are taking at-home tests and not submitting their results, so case totals may be higher than reported.

Hospitalizations are also continuing to drop, according to federal data. The U.S. has 71,000 patients with COVID-19 currently in hospitals; during the mid-January peak, there were 160,000 hospitalized patients.

Fatalities — a lagging indicator — are slowly starting to fall. The U.S. is now averaging 2,100 COVID-19-related deaths each day, down by nearly 10% in the last week, according to federal data.

ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos

Feb 17, 9:55 am
Study: People who survived COVID in 1st few months of pandemic had significantly higher risk of mental health problems

A new study finds that people who survived COVID-19 during the first few months of the pandemic had a significantly higher risk of developing mental health disorders, including opioid use disorder, in the year after their COVID-19 diagnosis.

The study, published in The BMJ medical journal, evaluated medical records of nearly 154,000 COVID-19 patients in the Veterans Health Administration, comparing their experiences to a similar group of people that didn’t have COVID-19.

After recovering from COVID-19, people with no prior history of mental illness were more likely to develop anxiety, depression, opioid use disorder, neurocognitive decline, and sleep disorders.

In an accompanying editorial, one of the lead researchers of the study argued that the mental health consequences of COVID-19 should be treated seriously and society shouldn’t “gaslight or dismiss long covid as a psychosomatic condition.”

The study only looked at people who survived COVID-19 from March 2020 to Jan. 2021 — before vaccines were widely available. It’s not clear if these findings apply to people diagnosed with COVID-19 more recently.

ABC News’ Sony Salzman, Arielle Mitropoulos

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(MINNEAPOLIS) — The Rev. Al Sharpton delivered a powerful and emotional eulogy at Thursday’s funeral for Amir Locke, a 22-year-old who was shot and killed by Minneapolis police officers executing a “no-knock” search warrant.

Locke, who was fatally shot on Feb. 2, was not named in the “no-knock” warrant.

Body camera video showed officers executing the warrant and finding Locke, who didn’t live at the home, sleeping under a blanket on the couch. Locke was seen holding a gun as he sat up; he was shot less than 10 seconds after officers entered the room, still covered in the blanket.

Locke’s mother, Karen Wells, at the funeral said her son was “executed.”

“How dare you?” she said. “You’re not above the law.”

Locke’s parents vowed to fight for a law in their son’s name banning “no-knock” warrants and Sharpton promised to support Locke’s family, saying, “Amir was not guilty of anything but being young and Black in America.”

Sharpton drew a connection between the “no-knock” warrant and how many Black Americans have the last name that once belonged to their enslaved relatives’ masters.

“That’s why it didn’t matter that Amir’s name wasn’t on the warrant — ’cause we don’t have a right to a name in the eyes of some in this country. We are nameless suspects,” Sharpton said.

“We are no longer gonna be your nameless suspects,” Sharpton said. “Amir has a name. His name wasn’t on your warrant — but his name’s gonna be in your law book.”

Speaking to the officers, Locke’s aunt, Linda Tyler, said at the service, “You did have time to subdue him.”

“You had time to assess the situation … but you didn’t. So you don’t need further training — you need to be fired,” she said. “You ambushed my nephew, you took his life. And while he didn’t matter to you … he mattered to this whole family. He mattered to this community.”

Locke’s funeral was held at Shiloh Temple International Ministries in Minneapolis, the same church where a funeral was held last year for 20-year-old Daunte Wright. Wright was shot dead at a traffic stop by a Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, police officer who claimed she mistook her gun for a Taser. The officer was found guilty of both first- and second-degree manslaughter and is set to be sentenced on Friday.

Locke’s shooting remains under investigation.

Relatives of George Floyd and Botham Jean, who were also killed at the hands of police, attended Locke’s funeral.

ABC News’ Adia Robinson and Kendall Ross contributed to this report.

 

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(BRUNSWICK, Ga.) — In his state trial for the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, Travis McMichael testified he is not a racist. But prosecutors in his federal hate crimes case have presented the jury with numerous statements, text messages and social media posts to allege racism was the underlying motive for why he, his father and their neighbor chased down and killed the 25-year-old Black man.

FBI analyst Amy Vaughn testified on Wednesday that she found a digital onslaught of messages, mostly from Travis McMichael, in which he allegedly routinely used racial slurs to describe Black people and advocated violence against them.

In one instance, Vaughn testified that the 36-year-old McMichael posted on social media his reaction to a news report on a confrontation between two white people and two Black people, allegedly saying Black people needed to be made examples of.

“‘They’d be scraping up brain matter if this happened to my wife or daughter,'” Vaughn read out loud from McMichael’s alleged message in U.S. District Court in Brunswick, Georgia.

McMichael, his 64-year-old father, Gregory McMichael, a former Georgia police officer; and their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan, 52, have each been charged with one count of interference of Arbery’s civil rights and attempted kidnapping. The McMichaels are also charged with using, carrying and brandishing a firearm in relation to a crime of violence and Travis McMichael faces an additional count of using a firearm in relation to a violent crime.

If convicted, the men could be sentenced to life in prison. All three are already serving life sentences, the McMichaels without the possibility of parole, after a state jury convicted them last year of murdering Arbery.

Derek Thomas, Travis McMichael’s childhood friend, testified on Wednesday that he was shocked by a violent, racist response Travis McMichael allegedly gave to what he said was supposed to be a funny video of a Black man playing a prank on his white friend.

Thomas said he was so disturbed by Travis McMichael’s texted response that he called him to confront him about it. When asked to read Travis McMichael’s text in court, Thomas declined and instead spelled out the racial slur he used to describe Black people.

Vaughn said her investigation led to the discovery of racist online posts by Bryan and bigoted comments Gregory McMichael used to describe Black people.

While the FBI was unable to get access to Gregory McMichael’s phone because of its encryption, Vaughn testified that investigators did find posts he made on Facebook that she read in court, including one in which he allegedly wrote, “The gun in the hand is worth more than the entire police force on the phone.”

Vaughn said the FBI also uncovered numerous online posts from Bryan in which he allegedly express his resentment over a relationship his daughter developed with a Black man. In one post Vaughn read in court, Bryan allegedly wrote, “This is the only thing I said I would never accept” and added, “If she doesn’t give a f— about herself, why should we?”

Arbery was out for a Sunday afternoon jog on Feb. 23, 2020, in the Satilla shores neighborhood near Brunswick, when the McMichaels assumed he was a burglarizing a home under construction in their neighborhood, armed themselves and chased him in their pickup truck. Bryan joined the five-minute pursuit, blocking Arbery’s path with his truck. He recorded cellphone video of Travis McMichael fatally shooting Arbery with a shotgun during a struggle.

While the McMichaels claimed they chased Arbery not because he was Black, but because he was trespassing at their neighbor’s house, prosecutors on Wednesday showed the jury videos of Travis McMichael trespassing while on a hunting trip. In one of the videos, Travis McMichael is seen smiling while standing next to “No Trespassing” signs.

Prosecutors also showed the jury an online post in which Gregory McMichael allegedly wrote, “There’s private property and then there’s private property, you know?”

In her opening statement in the high-profile trial, Assistant U.S. Attorney Bobbi Bernstein told the jury she will also present evidence that Bryan told investigators that after Travis McMichael shot Arbery he allegedly heard him yell a racist epithet at the victim as he lay dying on the pavement.

Bernstein told the panel that while it is not illegal to use racial slurs, “these slurs can provide you with evidence as to why a defendant did what he did.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(MINNEAPOLIS) — Grieving family and friends are gathering Thursday at the funeral of Amir Locke, a 22-year-old who was shot and killed by Minneapolis police officers executing a “no-knock” search warrant.

Locke, who was fatally shot on Feb. 2, was not named in the no-knock warrant.

Body camera video showed officers executing the warrant and finding Locke, who had been sleeping under a blanket on the couch and holding a gun. Locke was seen holding a gun as he sat up; he was shot less than 10 seconds after officers entered the room, still covered in the blanket.

“My son Amir was a law-abiding citizen who did not have a criminal history,” his father, Andre Locke, said at a news conference. “My son Amir was loved by many of us, by our family and many people, everyone that he came in touch with. My son Amir did what was right. He did all the things that he was supposed to do.”

The Rev. Al Sharpton will deliver the eulogy and officiate the funeral at Shiloh Temple International Ministries in Minneapolis.

Locke’s funeral is at the same church where a funeral was held last year for 20-year-old Daunte Wright. Wright was shot dead a traffic stop by a Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, police officer who claimed she mistook her gun for a Taser. The officer was found guilty of both first- and second-degree manslaughter and is set to be sentenced on Friday.

ABC News’ Adia Robinson and Kendall Ross contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(MINNEAPOLIS) — Grieving family and friends will gather Thursday at the funeral of Amir Locke, a 22-year-old who was shot and killed by Minneapolis police officers executing a “no-knock” search warrant.

Locke, who was fatally shot on Feb. 2, was not named in the no-knock warrant.

Body camera video showed officers executing the warrant and finding Locke, who had been sleeping under a blanket on the couch and holding a gun. Locke was seen holding a gun as he sat up; he was shot less than 10 seconds after officers entered the room, still covered in the blanket.

“My son Amir was a law-abiding citizen who did not have a criminal history,” his father, Andre Locke, said at a news conference. “My son Amir was loved by many of us, by our family and many people, everyone that he came in touch with. My son Amir did what was right. He did all the things that he was supposed to do.”

The Rev. Al Sharpton will deliver the eulogy and officiate the funeral, which will begin at 11 a.m. local time at Shiloh Temple International Ministries in Minneapolis.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Legislation introduced in the Tennessee state legislature this month is raising alarms from the state’s police union and gun control advocates who say it could turn the streets into the “old West.”

Two bills in the state assembly and state senate, HB 254 and SB 2523, would amend Tennessee law and designate “a person who has been issued an enhanced handgun carry permit” as a member of law enforcement.

“As introduced, expands the definition of ‘law enforcement officer’ to include a person who has been issued an enhanced handgun carry permit; provided, that the permit is not suspended, revoked, or expired, for purposes of authority to carry a firearm under certain circumstances,” the summary for the bill reads on the Tennessee General Assembly website.

There are currently 686,348 active enhanced handgun carry permit holders in the state, according to the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security, which issues the permits. A spokesperson for the department declined to comment about the proposed legislation.

Although the legislation doesn’t yet have any hearings scheduled and the assembly version has only one co-sponsor, it’s already getting pushback, including from a police union who says it could ultimately lead to more gun violence.

Jonathan Gold, a Michigan-based firearms instructor and member of the non-profit Giffords Gun Owners for Safety, told ABC News the bill would encourage more vigilantism that would ultimately lead to more harm.

“I don’t understand our regression to the old West, because this is what it feels like,” he told ABC News. “I’ve studied the old West, and I don’t think anyone wants to go back to the murder rate of Tombstone.”

Under Tennessee’s gun rules, an adult civilian resident can apply for an enhanced gun permit, which allows for both open and concealed carry, by paying a $100 fee and providing an eight-hour handgun safety course certificate.

Several groups of residents can get an exemption to the training, including registered armed guards, members of the military and veterans, according to the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security.

State Rep. Christopher Hurt, the lead sponsor for the state House bill, didn’t immediately respond to messages from ABC News for comment. A representative for state Sen. Joey Hensley, who introduced the state Senate version of the bill, told ABC News in a statement that “the bill only allows you to carry a gun where police can, but it does NOT make you a police officer.” The representative did not provide more clarification.

The Tennessee State Lodge for the Fraternal Order of Police, the union that represents Tennessee state police, told ABC News in a statement that it is “adamantly opposed to this bill in its current form.”

Lodge President Scottie DeLashmit said police officers in the state spend “spend countless hours” on the gun range honing their marksmanship skills and must qualify annually with the same weapons.

He added that officers also spend hours training in “driving, criminal law, defensive tactics, etc.”

“These vigorous standards are in place to ensure officers are familiar with their weapons,” DeLashmit said in the statement. “The enhanced handgun carry permit training is far less demanding than anything required from a cadet attending a basic law enforcement academy.”

Neither Hurt nor Hensley have any formal experience in law enforcement, according to their official bios.

Gold, who has trained both civilians and law enforcement officers in gun use for over 20 years, said that knowledge of the criminal justice system is critical for being effective in any law enforcement capacity.

The majority of officers never brandish their guns and even fewer fire them in the line of duty, according to Gold. A 2017 survey by Pew Research Center found that 27% of officers reported firing their weapon during their career.

Paul Kemp, the co-founder of the grassroots group Gun Owners for Responsible Gun Ownership, told ABC News he believes the Tennessee legislation is part of a growing trend around the country that is encouraging legal vigilantism.

“It seems to pander to the gun lobby’s idea that the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,” he told ABC News.

States across the country have introduced “stand your ground” laws and altered state codes to expand self-defense laws for when people use their guns.

Leaders in various states who have supported those laws contend that gun carrying residents have the right to protect themselves and their properties.

Tennessee’s self-defense code states that “a person who is not engaged in unlawful activity and is in a place where the person has a right to be has no duty to retreat before threatening or using force against another person when and to the degree the person reasonably believes the force is immediately necessary to protect against the other’s use or attempted use of unlawful force.”

Kemp said the bill’s current lack of details would likely lead to confusion among civilians and law enforcement that could lead to more violence and legal headaches.

“I would find it difficult for law enforcement to distinguish between a civilian with an enhanced gun permit and a perpetrator or person they want to subdue,” Kemp said.

As of Wednesday, there hasn’t been a hearing set for the bills in either body of the Tennessee Legislature.

Kemp said even if the Tennessee Legislature doesn’t move forward with the bill, he believes similar ones may soon appear in other statehouses, given the recent rise in gun purchases and the trend of lawmakers scaling back gun control laws.

Gold said more law enforcement agencies need to speak out against the bills and convince lawmakers that deputizing civilians with little to no training — and, more importantly, he said, follow-up trainings — will do nothing to curb crime.

“If I’m going to carry life and death in my hands, I’m going to be an expert at it or I’m not going to do it at all. There is no middle ground,” he said.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Tippecanoe County prosecutor Patrick Harrington is calling for the Indiana State Police to investigate an alleged incident caught on video that showed a Purdue University police officer with his elbow pressed against the neck and face of a Black student in the snow.

Purdue student Adonis Tuggle told ABC News he and his girlfriend were driving to his apartment from Purdue’s recreational center on Feb. 4 when they began to have a “disagreement.” He said they pulled over and were arguing on the side of the road when Purdue University police officer Jon Selke and other officers arrived.

Officers were called to the south side of the campus after a bystander made an “urgent” call to police saying it appeared a woman was being held against her will, Purdue University police chief John Cox said in a statement.

According to Tuggle, 24, their argument was over a “minimal topic,” and the police did not need to get involved.

“Officer Jon Selke arrived on the scene and he was automatically on go-mode just assuming it’s a threat or a dangerous situation, when in actuality, it was just a couple having a disagreement, which isn’t anything uncommon,” Tuggle told “Good Morning America.”

Tuggle said his girlfriend tried to tell Selke the situation was under control and that he was her boyfriend, but Selke told her to “shut the —- up,” according to Tuggle.

He said this escalated the situation.

“That’s when I stepped forward in front of my girlfriend to take over the conversation, and I told Officer Selke, ‘OK, so don’t tell my girlfriend to shut the —- up. There’s no need to be disrespectful,” Tuggle said.

Tuggle said Selke then grabbed his arm, threw him against his girlfriend’s truck and punched him. The two eventually fell into the snow. This is when Tuggle’s girlfriend, who has asked ABC News not to be named, begins to record the altercation.

In the video, Tuggle can be heard saying “stop it, please” and “you’re choking me” while his girlfriend asks Selke to get off of him and taps him. Selke then tells Tuggle’s girlfriend that he will tase her if she touches him again. The video ends once more officers arrive at the scene.

Neither campus police nor Selke responded to ABC News’ request for comment.

The one-minute video of the incident has been shared across social media, sparking outcry and debate on and off Purdue’s campus.

“All you have to do is watch the video. What has changed in America is everyone has a cell phone. Everyone has a camera, so if it’s an officer with his knee on George Floyd’s neck or an officer at Purdue University with his elbow in Adonis’ neck, that’s brutality and that has to stop,” the Tuggle’s attorney, Andrew M. Stroth said.

Tuggle was arrested and charged with resisting arrest. He paid his $250 bond and was released after an hour in the Tippecanoe County jail. Tuggle said shortly after the incident he temporarily experience a lot of pain in his shoulder and his joints.

Cox said in a statement on Feb. 9 that “no physical injuries were suffered in the incident.”

The Indiana State Police will independently review all evidence associated with the police call and response, including all available video evidence, witness statements, and police reports, Purdue said in a statement.

The evidence and results of the investigation will then be sent to Harrington, who will then decide whether to press charges.

Cox said campus police conduct an internal review whenever an officer uses force during an arrest. Cox said Selke was put on leave until further notice after the officer received death threats. It is unclear if the leave is paid or unpaid.

Tuggle’s family asked for an independent investigation before the prosecutor’s request. Stroth said the family wants Selke to be held accountable for his handling of the situation and for all body camera footage and evidence to be released publicly.

“The video from body-worn cameras will be made available, as will all findings and evidence from the internal review when complete,” Cox said in a statement.

Tuggle’s mother, Cornelia Dawson, said after watching the video, she doesn’t understand how the situation escalated.

“The only thing I’m thinking is, ‘I’m missing something.’ He had an argument and then and then what? None of it makes sense,” Dawson told “GMA.”

Dawson sent a letter to Purdue University President Mitch Daniels after the incident, asking for him to bring justice to Tuggle and to ensure that incidents like this don’t happen to any other student. She said she’s disappointed after being a Purdue supporter for so long.

“Like a lot of parents, I was walking around feeling proud. He’s at Purdue, prestigious Purdue. I became an ambassador. I bought the mugs. I had T-shirts, so I’m still in disbelief,” she said.

Purdue University said it “welcomes the prosecutor’s action and believes it to be a positive step, having previously requested an independent review by the ISP,” according to a press release.

“There are no subjects Purdue takes more seriously than campus safety, student well-being, and proper police conduct,” Daniels said in a statement on Feb. 10.

He said Purdue asked for not only a review from the ISP, but also the Purdue Police. Once both reviews are done, Daniels said all findings will be released.

Tuggle said he has interacted with police officers before and is often fearful of what could happen if a situation were to escalate.

“Like most Black males in America, especially out here in Indiana, when I see the police, unfortunately I get uncomfortable,” he said. “I get on guard trying to make sure, ‘OK, let me make sure everything’s OK, my ID information’ whatever that it is so hopefully things can go smoothly.”

Stroth is grateful that Tuggle is safe after the incident.

“He was injured and he was traumatized, and it’s serious, but thank God the outcome is different than others that we see every month in America,” he said.

 

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(NEW YORK) — A viral video of police responding to a fight between two teenagers at the Bridgewater Commons Mall in New Jersey over the weekend has drawn outrage and prompted an internal investigation over the officer’s apparent treatment of the Black teenager.

The video, which was taken by a bystander, appears to show the two teens arguing and then they begin to throw punches at each other. Shortly after, two Bridgewater Township police officers arrived at the scene and broke up the altercation. However, only the Black teenager, who was identified as an eighth grader named Kye, was handcuffed after being thrown to the ground, the video showed.

“They basically tackle me to the ground and then the one – the male officer put his knee in my back and then he starts putting me in cuffs,” Kye told ABC News station WABC in New York, in an interview that aired Tuesday night. “And then the female officer came over and put her knee on my upper back too and started helping putting cuffs on me. And while [the other teenager] was just sitting down on the couch watching the whole thing.”

In the video, the female officer sits the other teen who exchanged punches on the sofa and then appears to put her knee on Kye’s neck as she assists the male officer in handcuffing him.

The other teenager involved in the fight, who has not been identified by ABC News, was not handcuffed.

The Bridgewater Township Police Department told ABC News in a statement that police have asked the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office to assist in an internal investigation of the incident.

“We recognize that this video has made members of our community upset and are calling for an internal affairs investigation,” police said, urging anyone with additional videos of the incident to share them with law enforcement.

Frank Roman Jr., deputy chief of the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office, told ABC News in a statement that the incident is being investigated by the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Internal Affairs Unit.

Troy Fischer, the senior general manager of the Bridgewater Commons Mall, told ABC News that after the fight, both teenagers were “immediately banned from our property for the next three years.” He directed further questions about the incident to police.

Kye told WABC-TV that the fight allegedly started after the high schooler picked on Kye’s friend, who is a 7th-grader.

“My friend was arguing with the older kid and so I kind of just jumped into a fight, and since he’s older, he was on top of me and he’s bigger,” Kye said. “I was just confused and mad about it.”

Kye’s mother, Ebone Husain, told WABC that she wants as many people to watch the video as possible.

Asked what she wants to see happen, Husain said that she wants the officers to “become unemployable.”

Amid the outrage, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy responded to the incident in a tweet on Tuesday evening.

No-knock warrants in Minnesota under scrutiny after fatal police shooting

“Although an investigation is still gathering the facts about this incident, I’m deeply disturbed by what appears to be racially disparate treatment in this video,” he wrote. “We’re committed to increasing trust between law enforcement and the people they serve.”

Bridgewater Township Mayor Matthew Moench also released a statement responding to the incident.

Moench said that he is “completely confident that the Prosecutor’s review will be impartial, objective and thorough” and urged the public not to jump to conclusions before the investigation is complete.

ABC News’ William Gretsky and Ben Stein contributed to this report.

 

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(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.8 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 925,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

About 64.5% 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:

Feb 16, 12:44 pm
Updated mask guidance from CDC could come next week

Updated mask guidance from the CDC is expected to come as early as next week, officials confirmed to ABC News.

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky did not elaborate on the timing at Wednesday’s White House briefing, only saying the CDC could “soon” update its guidance.

“We are looking at all of our guidance based not only on where we are right now in the pandemic, but also on the tools we now have at our disposal — such as vaccines, boosters, tests and treatments — and our latest understanding of the disease,” Walensky said. “We want to give people a break from things like mask wearing when these metrics are better and then have the ability to reach for them again should things worsen.”

Walensky added, “Omicron cases are declining and we are all cautiously optimistic about the trajectory we are on … but we want to remain vigilant to do all we can so that this trajectory continues.”

Walensky also stressed that it is still critical for Americans to continue to wear masks if they are symptomatic, have been recently exposed or if they are 10 days post-COVID-19 diagnosis.

-ABC News’ Anne Flaherty and Arielle Mitropoulos

Feb 16, 11:47 am
Deaths projected to drop in weeks to come

Forecast models used by the CDC suggest that daily COVID-19 fatalities will finally begin to fall in the U.S. in the weeks to come.

The ensemble model estimates that only eight states have a greater than 50% chance of having more deaths over the next two weeks compared to the past two weeks, and two states and territories have a greater than 75% chance of seeing an increase.

The models predict the U.S. death toll will be at approximately 968,000 by March 12.

The CDC obtains the forecasts from the COVID-19 Forecast Hub at the University of Massachusetts 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

Feb 16, 10:50 am
Deaths increasing in 15 states

The U.S. daily case rate has dropped to 144,000 — an 81% drop since the peak about one month ago, according to federal data.

But experts continue to caution that the pandemic is not over, with the country reporting millions of new cases every week and 97% of counties still reporting high transmission. Experts also point out that many Americans are taking at-home tests and not submitting their results, so case totals may be higher than reported.

Deaths — a lagging indicator — remain high.

The U.S. is reporting an average of 2,200 lives lost to COVID-19 each day.

Fifteen states are reporting at least a 10% increase in daily death rates over the last week: Alaska, Alabama, Arizona, California, Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont and West Virginia.

-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos

Feb 16, 10:00 am
Report highlights mounting evidence vaccines can significantly reduce risk of developing long COVID

A new report from the United Kingdom’s public health agency highlights mounting evidence that getting vaccinated can significantly reduce the risk of developing long COVID.

Most people recover fully from COVID-19 but some experience symptoms like fatigue, shortness of breath and brain fog for months after infection.

The U.K. report summarizes the results of 15 previously published studies on long COVID from around the world. Collectively, these studies suggest that people who have been vaccinated are far less likely to develop long COVID.

-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos, Sony Salzman

Feb 16, 7:37 am
WHO: Weekly global number of COVID-19 cases fell by 19%

The global number of newly confirmed COVID-19 cases fell by 19% during the week ending on Feb. 13, compared to the previous week, according to a weekly epidemiological update released Tuesday by the World Health Organization.

Meanwhile, the number of newly recorded deaths from the disease that week remained similar to that of the previous week. Just over 16 million new cases and just under 75,000 new fatalities were reported worldwide during the week of Feb. 7 to Feb. 13, the WHO said.

All WHO regions reported decreases in the number of weekly cases except for the Western Pacific region, which reported an increase of 19%. The number of new weekly deaths increased in the Eastern Mediterranean region, the Western Pacific region, the African region and the region of the Americas, while it remained similar to that of the previous week in the European region and decreased in the Southeast Asia region, according to the WHO.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.8 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 925,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

About 64.5% 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:

Feb 16, 10:50 am
Deaths increasing in 15 states

The U.S. daily case rate has dropped to 144,000 — an 81% drop since the peak about one month ago, according to federal data.

But experts continue to caution that the pandemic is not over, with the country reporting millions of new cases every week and 97% of counties still reporting high transmission. Experts also point out that many Americans are taking at-home tests and not submitting their results, so case totals may be higher than reported.

Deaths — a lagging indicator — remain high.

The U.S. is reporting an average of 2,200 lives lost to COVID-19 each day.

Fifteen states are reporting at least a 10% increase in daily death rates over the last week: Alaska, Alabama, Arizona, California, Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont and West Virginia.

-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos

Feb 16, 10:00 am
Report highlights mounting evidence vaccines can significantly reduce risk of developing long COVID

A new report from the United Kingdom’s public health agency highlights mounting evidence that getting vaccinated can significantly reduce the risk of developing long COVID.

Most people recover fully from COVID-19 but some experience symptoms like fatigue, shortness of breath and brain fog for months after infection.

The U.K. report summarizes the results of 15 previously published studies on long COVID from around the world. Collectively, these studies suggest that people who have been vaccinated are far less likely to develop long COVID.

-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos, Sony Salzman

Feb 16, 7:37 am
WHO: Weekly global number of COVID-19 cases fell by 19%

The global number of newly confirmed COVID-19 cases fell by 19% during the week ending on Feb. 13, compared to the previous week, according to a weekly epidemiological update released Tuesday by the World Health Organization.

Meanwhile, the number of newly recorded deaths from the disease that week remained similar to that of the previous week. Just over 16 million new cases and just under 75,000 new fatalities were reported worldwide during the week of Feb. 7 to Feb. 13, the WHO said.

All WHO regions reported decreases in the number of weekly cases except for the Western Pacific region, which reported an increase of 19%. The number of new weekly deaths increased in the Eastern Mediterranean region, the Western Pacific region, the African region and the region of the Americas, while it remained similar to that of the previous week in the European region and decreased in the Southeast Asia region, according to the WHO.

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