(NEW YORK) — Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday that the omicron variant appears to be overtaking all other COVID-19 variants, including delta, calling it “something to be reckoned with” as he advised Americans who will be gathering with family for the holidays to stay “prudent.”
“If you are vaccinated and boosted and are prudent when you travel, when you’re in an airport to be wearing a mask all the time, you have to be wearing a mask on a plane. Do not do things like go to gatherings where there are people who you do not know what their vaccination status is,” Fauci told ABC’s chief Washington correspondent and “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl.
Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the White House chief medical adviser, added that the omicron variant has an “extraordinary capability” of transmitting from one person to another.
“This is really something to be reckoned with,” he said. “It is really rapidly spreading literally throughout the world and certainly in our own country.”
Fauci recommended that people get tested before getting together and noted that many people are choosing to take at-home rapid tests.
“Nothing is 100% risk-free, but I think if you do the things that I just mentioned, you’d actually mitigate that risk enough to feel comfortable about being able to enjoy the holiday,” he said.
When pressed by Karl about long lines for COVID-19 testing and the unavailability of tests in some parts of the country, Fauci said help is on the way.
“What the government has been doing now, and you’re going to be seeing the result of that, is making an investment, literally billions of dollars, to get anywhere from 200 million to 500 million tests available per month,” Fauci said, adding that there will be a lot of tests — many of which will be free — available soon.
Dr. Anthony Fauci tells @jonkarl that he doesn’t foresee more lockdowns as the omicron spreads across the country.
As omicron continues to spread like wildfire, Karl also asked Fauci if he sees any need for lockdowns in the United States in the near future.
“I don’t see that in the future if we do the things we’re talking about,” Fauci said. But he went on to stress that with approximately 50 million eligible Americans still unvaccinated, it’s “quite likely” that some parts of the country will experience a “significant stress” on their hospital systems.
Despite the new variant, some governors are deciding against reinstituting mandatory mitigation measures used earlier in the pandemic. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, recently explained his decision not to reimpose a statewide mask mandate, saying that having vaccines effectively brought an end to the “medical emergency.”
“At this point, if you haven’t been vaccinated, it’s really your own darn fault,” Polis told Colorado Public Radio. “People who want to be protected are. Those who get sick, it’s almost entirely their own darn fault.”
Pressed by @jonkarl on when COVID-19 tests will be “truly available and affordable,” Dr. Anthony Fauci notes billions in government investments.
Karl pressed Fauci, asking him if he agreed that the pandemic is becoming “a crisis of unvaccinated.”
“It is certainly much more of a crisis of the unvaccinated, but there are other tools besides vaccine and wearing a mask [that] complements the protection that you get from the vaccine and a boost,” Fauci said.
Fauci stressed that just because someone is vaccinated doesn’t mean they can forgo masks in every situation.
“You can do both and should do both,” he said.
While cases and hospital admissions are rising nationally, Fauci noted the promising data released by Pfizer last week showing its antiviral COVID-19 pill has near 90% efficacy in preventing hospitalizations and deaths in high-risk patients is a “big deal.”
“There are going to be a lot of people of high risk who are going to benefit greatly from having a pill that would dramatically diminish the likelihood they’re going to wind up in the hospital,” he said.
“There’s no way I’m going to walk away from this until we get this under control…It’s kind of like we’re halfway through World War II, and you decide, ‘I think I’ve had enough of this. I’m walking away.’ You can’t do that,” Dr. Anthony Fauci says. https://t.co/bMUu31rtGkpic.twitter.com/NaGzkngLGi
Fauci will celebrate his 81st birthday on Christmas Eve, but he told Karl, “There’s no way I’m going to walk away from this until we get this under control.”
He added that stepping away now would be like “we’re halfway through World War II and you decide, ‘Well, I think I’ve had enough of this, I’m walking away.’”
“You can’t do that,” Fauci said. “You’ve got to finish, and we’re going to finish this and get back to normal.”
(NEW YORK) — After a series of strong and devastating tornadoes struck the Midwest and South this week, killing at least 89 people, a winter storm is threatening parts of the Northeast and more tornadoes may crop up in other parts of the U.S.
As severe storms threaten parts of the South, a winter storm is moving into the Northeast. On Saturday, heavy rain moves east with strong thunderstorms moving across coastal Texas and Southwest Louisiana.
A tornado or two is possible with gusty winds and hail in those coastal areas.
The same storm system will extend into upstate New York and northern New England with freezing rain and heavy snow. Up to 8 inches of snow is possible through Sunday morning.
In the West, over a foot of snow was reported in Utah where a skier got caught in an avalanche Friday.
On Saturday another surge of moisture will move into the Pacific Northwest.
Four states from Oregon to Montana are under weather alerts.
South, Midwest tornadoes possible
Heavy rain moved across hard-hit area in the mid-South prompting several reports of flash flooding and water rescues. Three to 4 inches of rainfall was reported from Oklahoma to Illinois as of Saturday morning, and a flash flood.
As a low-pressure system moves through the Ohio Valley today, the threat of heavy rain and flash flooding is diminishing across parts of the Mid-Mississippi Valley.
However, this same system will bring the risk of severe storms to 6 million in the South.
A line of strong thunderstorms will sweep across coastal Texas and southwest Louisiana with heavy rain, gusty winds, hail and a tornado or two is possible.
Major cities that may see severe storms include Houston; Beaumont, Texas; and Lake Charles, Louisiana.
Over the next several days, rounds of heavy rain will move in the Gulf Coast with 3 to 4 inches of rain possible.
Northeast
The same storm system will move into the Northeast bringing heavy snow, freezing rain and rain showers.
Up to 8 inches of snowfall is possible through Sunday morning.
A cooler air mass moves across the Northeast this weekend into next week.
Temperatures are at least 20 to 30 degrees cooler than yesterday.
Temperatures will be near normal through Christmas.
West
Over a foot of snow was reported in Utah.
Ten to 12 inches of snow was reported in Montana, Wyoming and the Dakotas.
A new storm moved into the Pacific Northwest with heavy rain, snow and gusty winds. Highest elevations may see up to 2 feet of snow this weekend along the Northern Cascades. High winds may cause whiteout conditions. High wind alerts are in effect through Saturday with gusts up to 60 mph.
Over the next several days, waves of moisture will move into the West bringing heavy mountain snow and rain. One to 3 feet of snow is possible over parts of Washington and California.
(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.3 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 803,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
About 61.2% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dec 18, 10:21 am
Over 10,000 additional confirmed omicron cases in UK
An additional 10,059 confirmed cases of the omicron variant of COVID-19 have been reported across the UK, according to the UK Health Security Agency’s daily omicron overview on Saturday.
Confirmed omicron cases in the UK now total 24,968.
ABC News’ Rashid Haddou
Dec 17, 8:47 pm
Federal court allows Biden’s workforce vaccine-or-test mandate to proceed
A federal appeals court reinstated the Biden administration’s nationwide workplace vaccine mandate Friday.
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals dissolved the stay issued by the Fifth Circuit last month on the rule, which would require employees at private companies with over 100 workers to get vaccinated or tested regularly.
The mandate “is an important step in curtailing the transmission of a deadly virus that has killed over 800,000 people in the United States, brought our healthcare system to its knees, forced businesses to shut down for months on end, and cost hundreds of thousands of workers their jobs,” Judge Jane Stranch wrote in the opinion.
The rule, which was set to go into effect on Jan. 4, 2022, had been put on hold by the Fifth Circuit after it ruled that the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration didn’t have the legal authority to impose such a requirement on private businesses.
The Labor Department had previously said it won’t move forward with enforcing its workplace mandate until the matter was resolved in court.
Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said Friday she plans to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to block the order.
-ABC News’ Benjamin Siu and Anne Flaherty
Dec 17, 5:23 pm
Omicron could spread up to 3 times faster than delta, new analysis finds
The omicron variant could spread two to three times faster than delta, according to a new report from the Imperial College London COVID-19 response team.
The study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, also estimated that the risk of being reinfected with omicron is more than five times higher than that of delta.
Data could change as more information on omicron’s spread is gathered, though the study offers an early indication of how much more transmissible the new variant is compared to delta.
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett, Dr. John Brownstein and Sony Salzman
Dec 17, 3:44 pm
NFL games pushed back
Due to a “substantial increase in cases across the league,” the NFL announced that several weekend games have been pushed back.
Saturday’s game between the Las Vegas Raiders and Cleveland Browns has been moved from Saturday to Monday.
The Washington Football Team vs. Philadelphia Eagles matchup and Seattle Seahawks-Los Angeles Rams game have both been moved from Sunday to Tuesday.
Dec 17, 3:29 pm
New York state reports over 21K cases setting new pandemic record
New York state reported 21,027 cases Thursday, setting a new single-day high, Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office said.
“The winter surge in COVID-19 cases is a reminder that the pandemic is not over yet and we must take extra care to keep ourselves and each other safe,” Hochul said in a statement. “The vaccine is still our best weapon to defeat the virus.”
-ABC News’ Josh Hoyos
Dec 17, 2:56 pm
Southwest CEO tests positive after Senate hearing
Southwest CEO Gary Kelly has tested positive for COVID-19 after testifying at a Senate hearing Wednesday alongside other airline executives, a Southwest spokesperson said.
He was not masked during the hearing.
Kelly, who is fully vaccinated and boosted, has mild symptoms, the spokesperson said.
ABC News reached out to the airlines whose executives were next to Kelly at the hearing.
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby and Delta operations chief John Laughter tested negative Friday.
American Airlines CEO Doug Parker plans to test Friday afternoon, according to the airline. Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, said she will test Friday and in the coming days.
Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell told ABC News that committee members will “follow the protocols” for testing.
-ABC News’ Mina Kaji, Allison Pecorin and Sam Sweeney
Dec 17, 2:00 pm
National Guard to help Ohio with strained hospitals
More than 4,700 COVID-19 patients are in Ohio hospitals, the highest number of all of 2021 — and hospitalization numbers are quickly approaching an all-time high, Gov. Mike DeWine’s office said.
DeWine said he’s calling up 1,050 National Guard members to help overwhelmed hospitals beginning on Monday.
Dec 17, 1:44 pm
Vaccine timeline pushed back for kids under 5
The potential timeline for when children under 5 may have an authorized vaccine is now being pushed back.
Data for a two-shot vaccine was initially expected by the end of the year, but now Pfizer/BioNTech say they hope to have data with a third shot in the first half of 2022.
Pfizer/BioNTech said they “will amend the clinical study evaluating the safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine in children 6 months to under 5 years of age. The study will now include evaluating a third dose of 3 µg at least two months after the second dose of the two-dose series to provide high levels of protection in this young age group.”
An early look into the study data suggested that the two doses at a smaller volume was not as effective for kids ages 2 to 5 as it was for the 16 to 25 population, so scientists are going to add a third dose and see if the vaccine is as effective. There were no safety issues reported in the early data analysis.
Pfizer/BioNTech added in a statement, “The decision to evaluate a third dose of 3 µg for children 6 months to under 5 years of age reflects the companies’ commitment to carefully select the right dose to maximize the risk-benefit profile. If the three-dose study is successful, Pfizer and BioNTech expect to submit data to regulators to support an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for children 6 months to under 5 years of age in the first half of 2022.”
-ABC News’ Eric M. Strauss
Dec 17, 12:55 pm
Americans in their 30s have highest case rate
Americans in their 30s are accounting for the highest case rate of any age group, according to federal data.
The U.S. is now reporting nearly 120,000 new cases each day. The daily case average has surged by nearly 86.3% since late October, according to federal data.
Thirty-three states, as well as Washington, D.C., and New York City, have seen at least a 10% jump in daily cases over the last two weeks.
New Hampshire currently holds the nation’s highest case rate, followed by Rhode Island, Maine, Wisconsin, Connecticut and Massachusetts, according to federal data.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Dec 17, 12:40 pm
White House: Unvaccinated are ‘looking at a winter of severe illness and death’
White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients warned Friday that the unvaccinated are “looking at a winter of severe illness and death — for yourselves, your families and the hospitals you may soon overwhelm.”
CDC director Rochelle Walensky said she expects omicron to become the dominant variant in the coming weeks.
Asked whether the CDC will change its guidance on vaccinated people quarantining after exposure, which they currently don’t have to, Walensky said, “We are actively following the science in that area, with regard to how the viral burden is both among vaccinated people and unvaccinated people, and the natural history of that viral burden with regard to isolation.”
“And as that science emerges, we will update our evidence if need be,” she said.
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Dec 17, 11:53 am
UK reports highest daily cases ever
The United Kingdom reported 93,045 new cases in the last 24 hours, breaking a daily record for the third day in a row.
The total number of cases over the last week now stands at 477,229, a 38.6% increase from the previous week.
-ABC News’ Guy Davies
Dec 17, 11:39 am
Rockettes canceled due to breakthrough cases
Friday’s four Radio City Rockettes shows have been canceled due to breakthrough COVID-19 cases in the New York City production.
Plans for future shows haven’t been determined.
-ABC News’ Aaron Katersky
Dec 17, 11:35 am
CDC studies find schools can test kids rather than quarantine
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday endorsed a practice in schools called “test-to-stay,” which allows unvaccinated kids and staff to test instead of quarantine after being exposed to COVID-19.
The CDC says the practice can be employed in addition to other mitigation measures, such as vaccination and at least 3-feet of physical distance among students wearing masks.
The new guidance follows two studies out of Los Angeles County, California, and Lake County, Illinois. Both studies found no significant transmission in school when test-to-stay was used.
The studies were conducted before the omicron variant was detected in the U.S.
-ABC News’ Anne Flaherty
Dec 17, 11:01 am
Hospitals stretched thin in Wisconsin, Michigan
In Wisconsin, only 4% of ICU beds are available.
“This is getting really scary,” Dr. Jamie Hess, an emergency physician at the University of Wisconsin, told ABC News.
“We’re really reaching a crisis point where we have more patients to take care of then we have beds in the hospital or staff to care for them,” Hess said.
Michigan has been struggling through a similar surge for nearly three months, with the state reporting more than 6,500 new cases each day. On average, more than 500 patients are being admitted to hospitals each day.
“Where we are right now feels a lot like the first surge back in March of 2020,” Erin Dicks, a nurse manager at MICU Henry Ford Hospital, told ABC News. “We don’t have enough beds to be able to manage this.”
Dicks said so many patients are young.
“I think one of the biggest frustrating pieces for my staff is that they look at this as, this is preventable — people don’t have to die here,” Dicks said.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Dec 17, 9:01 am
Harvard joins list of universities mandating boosters
Harvard University will require boosters for all eligible members of the community, school officials said Thursday.
Earlier this week, Harvard warned of an increase in cases, saying the rise can be contributed to social events following the Thanksgiving break.
Omicron is likely already on campus, university officials added.
Harvard joins a growing list of colleges and universities moving to require third doses next semester for those eligible. Other schools include Stanford, NYU, University of Notre Dame, Syracuse, Smith College and Wellesley College.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Dec 17, 8:13 am
Illinois reports highest case number of the year
In Illinois, 11,858 new cases were reported on Thursday — the highest daily case number of all of 2021, ABC Chicago station WLS reported, citing state health officials.
Illinois confirmed its second omicron case Wednesday, detected in a suburban Chicago resident. That person is asymptomatic and vaccinated, WLS reported.
Dec 16, 8:52 pm
CDC recommends opting for Pfizer or Moderna over J&J when there’s a choice
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has signed off on its advisory committee’s recommendation that people who have a choice should get an mRNA vaccine, either Pfizer or Moderna, over the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
The updated recommendation comes after a review of new CDC data on rare blood clots linked to the J&J vaccine.
“Today’s updated recommendation emphasizes CDC’s commitment to provide real-time scientific information to the American public,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a statement. “I continue to encourage all Americans to get vaccinated and boosted.”
Dec 16, 7:54 pm
Omicron now makes up nearly 100% of strains found in Orlando wastewater samples
The new omicron variant makes up nearly 100% of the strains found in wastewater samples in Orlando, Florida, officials said Thursday.
“It escalated rapidly,” Orange County Utilities spokeswoman Sarah Lux told ABC News.
In its first test for the variant last Thursday, the department found no evidence of omicron in the community’s wastewater, she said. On Saturday, it represented about 30% of the strains found in the samples, and by Tuesday, nearly 100%.
“So, we’re talking about zero to nearly 100 in a matter of a week,” Lux said.
All parts of the county are seeing an increasing presence of the omicron variant, she said. The southern area, home to the theme parks, has seen the highest amount of virus remnants, followed by the eastern area, which is home to the University of Central Florida.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Dec 16, 3:53 pm
CDC committee recommends opting for Pfizer or Moderna over J&J if given choice
The CDC’s advisory committee recommended Thursday that people who have a choice should get an mRNA vaccine, either Pfizer or Moderna, over the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine after a review of new CDC data on rare blood clots linked to J&J.
The vote was unanimous.
The rare blood clots are not a new safety concern and the vaccine has already become far less common in the U.S. after it was given an FDA warning label about the clotting condition. But more data that confirmed a slightly higher rate of clotting cases and deaths than was previously reported caused the CDC and FDA to take another look at the data this week.
The CDC has confirmed nine deaths and 54 cases from the severe clotting event, thrombosis with thrombocytopenia.
There could also be more cases and deaths because TSS is under-diagnosed and could be underreported, the CDC said.
The clotting is more common among women in their 30s and 40s but has been seen in adult men and women of all ages.
The experts said J&J should not be taken off the shelves and is still far more beneficial than not getting any vaccine at all.
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Dec 16, 3:22 pm
Several Northeast states nearing peak levels
Maine and New Hampshire are now averaging more new cases than at any other point in the pandemic, while daily cases in Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island are nearing peak levels, according to federal data.
Five of those states — Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont — have the highest full vaccination rates in the country.
In Florida, which has been largely spared from the latest COVID-19 wave, daily cases have increased by 92% over the last two weeks, according to federal data.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Dec 16, 2:47 pm
NYC cases have tripled in the last month
COVID-19 cases in New York City have tripled in the last month, officials warned Thursday.
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a six-point plan to fight the surge, including increasing testing capacity, doubling down on business inspections and distributing 1 million KN95 masks and 500,000 rapid home tests.
“We need to stop this variant,” the mayor said. “This variant moves fast. We need to move a lot faster.”
-ABC News’ Aaron Katersky
Dec 16, 8:04 am
Omicron will be dominant variant in US ‘very soon,’ Fauci says
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading expert on infectious diseases, warned Thursday that omicron will become the dominant variant of the novel coronavirus in the United States “very soon.”
“It has an extraordinary ability to transmit efficiently and spread,” Fauci, the chief medical advisor to U.S. President Joe Biden, told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos in an interview on Good Morning America.
“It has what we call a doubling time of about three days and if you do the math on that, if you have just a couple of percentage of the isolates being omicron, very soon it’s going to be the dominant variant,” he explained. “We’ve seen that in South Africa, we’re seeing it in the U.K. and I’m absolutely certain that’s what we’re going to be seeing here relatively soon.”
Fauci, who is also the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, urged Americans to “absolutely” get vaccinated against COVID-19, if they haven’t already, and to also receive a booster shot when they become eligible.
“At this point, we don’t believe you need an omicron-specific boost,” he added. “We just need to get the boost with what you got originally for the primary vaccination.”
Dec 16, 6:14 am
France to ban non-essential travel with UK over omicron surge
France announced Thursday that it will ban non-essential travel to and from the United Kingdom due to the country’s surge in cases of the omicron variant.
Starting Saturday, France will require people to have “a compelling reason” to travel between the two countries. Travel for tourism or work will not be allowed. French citizens, however, can return to France, according to a statement from the French prime minister’s office.
All travelers from the U.K. will be required to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken less than 24 hours before departure. Upon arrival in France, they must self-isolate for a week, but that period can be ended after 48 hours if they test negative for COVID-19 again.
The new rules apply to people regardless of their vaccination status.
“Faced with the extremely rapid spread of the Omicron variant in the United Kingdom, the Government has chosen to reinstate the need for an essential reason for travel from and to the United Kingdom, and to strengthen the requirement for tests on departure and arrival,” the French prime minister’s office said in the statement Thursday. “The Government is also calling on travelers who had planned to visit the United Kingdom to postpone their trip.”
Dec 16, 4:24 am
Indonesia confirms 1st case of omicron variant
Indonesia announced Thursday its first confirmed case of the omicron variant.
The case was detected in a janitor who works at the COVID-19 Emergency Hospital of Kemayoran Athletes Village in Jakarta, according to a statement from Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin.
The hospital’s cleaning staff are routinely tested and the results for three people were positive for COVID-19 on Dec. 10. Those samples were then sent to a genome sequencing lab, which identified the omicron variant in one of the samples on Wednesday, according to the statement.
Indonesia’s Ministry of Health has also identified probable cases of omicron among five travelers who were in quarantine — two Indonesian citizens who had just returned from the United Kingdom and the United States, and three foreigners from China. Their test samples are being sequenced and the results will be known in a few days, according to the statement.
The health minister urged Indonesians “not to panic and to remain calm,” and to get vaccinated against COVID-19 if they haven’t already.
“The arrival of new variants from abroad, which we identified in quarantine, shows that our defense system against the arrival of new variants is quite good, we need to strengthen it,” Sadikin said. “So it’s normal to stay 10 days in quarantine. The goal is not to make it difficult for people who came, but to protect the people of Indonesia.”
Dec 15, 4:46 pm
Forecast: US could see up to 845,000 deaths by early January
Forecast models used by the CDC suggest weekly death totals and hospital admissions will rise over the next four weeks.
The U.S. could reach a total of 845,000 deaths by Jan. 8, according to the forecasts from the COVID-19 Forecast Hub at UMass Amherst.
The COVID-19 Forecast Hub team monitors and combines forecasting models from the nation’s top researchers. They then create an ensemble, usually with a wide cone of uncertainty. Nicholas Reich, a biostatistician who runs the forecasting model, told ABC News Wednesday that he doesn’t think the forecasts included omicron in their predictions because the majority of data isn’t publicly available yet in a format that can be easily incorporated into a model.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Dec 15, 4:20 pm
US cases up 45% in the last month
The U.S. is now reporting nearly 118,000 new cases each day — up by 45% in the last month, according to federal data.
Daily COVID-19-related hospital admissions have leapt by 46% in the last month.
Maine and New Hampshire are now averaging more new cases than at any other point in the pandemic, according to federal data.
New Hampshire currently holds the nation’s highest case rate, followed by Rhode Island, Maine, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
(NEW YORK) — With COVID-19 “raging” in New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy said this latest surge could bring about the return of some restrictions.
New Jersey reported back-to-back days of over 6,000 new confirmed cases on Thursday and Friday, as infections have dramatically spiked in recent weeks, state data shows. This time last month, the state was reporting under 2,000 daily new cases.
The number of people hospitalized for COVID-19 has also been on the rise in the past month, from fewer than 700 in early November to over 1,700 currently, according to state data. COVID-19 patients in intensive care units and on ventilators are also up.
“The pandemic is still in our midst and unfortunately still raging,” Murphy said during a press briefing Friday. “This thing is still with us, and sadly, the numbers are going up.”
State health officials have pointed to the highly transmissible delta variant, indoor gatherings, holiday travel and waning immunity as fueling that trajectory. The new omicron variant, which early data suggests is more transmissible than delta, is another challenge.
A small percentage of omicron cases have been detected in New Jersey, though Murphy said it is likely more prevalent in the region. In its latest modeling, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that omicron makes up 13% of COVID-19 cases in the New York and New Jersey area, the highest in the nation.
The majority of cases and hospitalizations for COVID-19 have been in unvaccinated people, Murphy said. On average, 80% of COVID-19 patients in New Jersey’s hospitals are unvaccinated, state health commissioner Judy Persichilli said earlier this week. Around 30% of state residents are not fully vaccinated, according to federal data.
Around 37% of eligible residents have received a booster dose so far, Persichilli said Wednesday during a press event promoting vaccination.
In an effort to get more residents inoculated and receive booster shots, the state has reopened three vaccine mega-sites so far this month, in addition to offering doses at pharmacies, supermarkets, community centers and hospitals.
Hospital leaders have also been urging vaccination and booster doses amid rising hospitalizations and the new omicron threat. At University Hospital in Newark, 39% of COVID-19 patients are fully vaccinated but not boosted as of Friday, according to President and CEO Dr. Shereef Elnahal. COVID-19 hospitalizations overall have also increased over 100% from two weeks ago, he said.
“We’re facing new challenges and unanticipated challenges with the delta variant and the omicron variant,” Elnahal said during Wednesday’s press event. “We have a task ahead of us to communicate clearly to this community that boosting is necessary to keep folks safe.”
Murphy said state officials will be keeping a close eye on breakthrough cases, among other metrics, as they weigh next steps.
“Breakthrough cases that are significant and severe — significant in numbers and severe in their health implications — that is something that we’re going to be watching very closely,” he told reporters Friday.
Residents could expect to see “a whole range of things happening,” he said, such as proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test for events, “whether the state decides to do it or whether individual locations start to do it.”
“My fear is that we’re gonna get back into capacity limits in some form or another,” he added.
One local leader has already implemented temporary vaccination requirements amid the surge.
Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla, along with the city’s Office of Emergency Management, issued an executive order this week mandating that any bar or restaurant participating in a bar crawl this weekend must require attendees to show proof of vaccination or be “subject to immediate closure, liquor license revocation or disciplinary suspension.”
The order came ahead of a scheduled SantaCon bar crawl.
“If you’re not vaccinated, our message is simple: don’t bother participating in a bar crawl this weekend,” Bhalla said in a statement.
(NEW YORK) — New York State reported 21,027 positive COVID test results on Thursday, a new single-day record, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Friday.
This brings the positivity rate in New York to 7.98%. The state also reported 60 new COVID-related deaths over the last two days.
“The winter surge in COVID-19 cases is a reminder that the pandemic is not over yet, and we must take extra care to keep ourselves and each other safe,” Hochul said in a statement. “The vaccine is still our best weapon to defeat the virus and ensure we are safe from serious illness. Get the shot if you haven’t yet and the booster if you have, mask up, and wash your hands.”
The state also reported 178 confirmed omicron cases. It’s likely there are more because only a fraction of positive results are sequenced to determine which strain of the virus it is.
Last week, as the number of cases began to rise, the state reinstated its indoor mask mandate for businesses or venues that don’t implement a vaccine requirement.
According to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering, more than 5.3 million people have died of COVID around the world. The approximately 805,000 Americans are the most in a single country.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a plan on Thursday to help fight this latest surge. Measures will include distributing half a million rapid home tests through community organizations in addition to 1 million KN95 masks.
“We have seen a very substantial increase in COVID cases in the past few days,” the mayor said. “It is clear that the omicron variant is here in NYC, in full force.”
“This variant moves fast — we need to move a lot faster,” de Blasio added.
(FORT MYERS, Fla.) — Police in Fort Myers, Florida, issued a missing child alert for 12-year-old Edilsy Roca from Lee County.
According to police, Edilsy was last seen in Fort Myers at approximately 10:30 pm Monday walking in the area of Gardenia Ave.
In an updated alert, the Fort Myers Police Department said Friday afternoon that detectives believe Edilsy could be with her mother and her mother’s boyfriend in Lehigh Acres, an area in Lee County, and if the child is found in her mother’s custody, “she could potentially be in danger.”
Along with a photo of the child, police released pictures of her mother, Imilsy Medina, and her boyfriend, Fabio Miguel Costa Araujo, on the Fort Myers Police Department Facebook page and urged anyone with information about Edilsy’s whereabouts to contact the police.
Medina, 30, has brown hair and brown eyes, while Araujo, 31, has brown hair and gray eyes.
Police said that Imilsy Medina may be wearing glasses and urged members of the public not to approach either Medina or Araujo but to contact police immediately.
According to the missing child alert, Edilsy was wearing a gray crop top, black sweatpants and black sandals when she was last seen.
Edilsy, who is Black, has brown hair and hazel eyes, is 5 feet tall and weighs 110 lbs.
It is unclear who reported Edilsy missing and when police were first notified.
A spokesperson for the Fort Myers Police Department told ABC News on Friday afternoon that no further information is available as this is an ongoing investigation.
Anyone with information about Edilsy’s location can contact the Fort Myers Police Department at (239) 321-7700 or SWFL Crime Stoppers.
(NEW YORK) — With a rise in COVID-19 cases across the nation alongside spread of the new omicron variant, several major events this week have been rescheduled or canceled.
New York and Washington, D.C., on Friday and Wednesday, respectively, reported the most COVID-19 cases in a single day, breaking their pandemic records.
In sports
The NFL on Friday rescheduled its Saturday game between the Cleveland Browns and the Las Vegas Raiders to Monday 5 p.m. ET.
According to a statement from Cleveland Browns Senior Vice President of Communications Peter John-Baptiste, all members of the organization who recently tested positive were vaccinated.
Sunday’s games between the Washington Football Team and Philadelphia Eagles, and between the Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks were also postponed to Tuesday.
In a statement, the NFL said they made these schedule changes “based on medical advice” after “seeing a new, highly transmissible form of the virus.”
This trend is observable in other sports as well, as the NHL earlier announced it was rescheduling all games for the Colorado Avalanche and Florida Panthers through at least the Christmas weekend amid a COVID-19 outbreak.
The organization pointed to rising positive cases within the last two days and the continued spread of COVID-19 as a concern.
A shutdown on the Calgary Flames, which has already had six games postponed, has been extended through Dec. 23.
In entertainment
Rising cases have also affected events within the entertainment sphere. Shows like “A Christmas Carol” in Los Angeles’ Ahmanson Theatre were canceled due to breakthrough infections among the show’s cast.
In New York, The Rockettes canceled four shows of “The Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes” scheduled for Friday also due to “breakthrough COVID-19 cases in the production,” a representative said.
On New York’s Broadway, “Moulin Rouge! The Musical on Broadway” also canceled its Friday show due to positive cases within the show company.
Earlier this week, several other Broadway shows like “Hamilton” and “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” had also canceled shows due to infections, local ABC affiliate WABC-TV reported.
On Dec. 12, singer-songwriter Doja Cat pulled out of future iHeartRadio’s Jingle Ball Tour performances after testing positive for COVID-19.
She announced on Instagram that she tested positive after a few members of her production team also tested positive.
(HARRISONBURG, Va.) — Police in Virginia said they believe an alleged serial killer whom they’ve dubbed the “shopping cart killer” may be responsible for the deaths of four people — and possibly more.
Authorities said Friday that a suspect who was previously charged with the murders of two women, whose bodies were found in a lot in Harrisonburg in November, is believed to be connected to the deaths of two more people whose remains were found this week in a wooded area of Alexandria.
“We’re here today to talk about a serial killer — and that is a phrase that I’ve used sparingly in my three decades in this profession,” Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said during a press briefing.
“He preys on the weak and preys on the vulnerable,” Davis added. “Our shopping cart killer does unspeakable things with his victims, and it’s our collective duty and responsibility to bring justice and closure to all of our communities.”
Two missing Virginia women — Allene Elizabeth “Beth” Redmon, 54, of Harrisonburg, and Tonita Lorice Smith, 39, of Charlottesville — both were found dead on Nov. 23 near each other in an open lot in the commercial district of Harrisonburg, police said.
Authorities allege that both women connected with the suspect, Anthony Robinson, 35, of Washington, D.C., through dating sites and met him on separate occasions at a hotel. Their bodies were found with blunt force trauma, and investigators believe they were transported to the scene in a shopping cart.
“After he inflicts trauma to his victims and kills them, he transports their bodies to their final resting place, literally in a shopping cart, and there’s video to that effect,” Davis said.
Robinson was arrested last month based on video surveillance and cellphone records that connected him to the two victims, according to Harrisonburg Police Chief Kelley Warner. He’s been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and two felony counts of concealing, transporting or altering a dead body.
More charges are forthcoming in connection with the deaths of two people found Wednesday in Alexandria near the Moon Inn, Fairfax County police said.
One victim is believed to be a missing woman from Washington, D.C. Police said cellular data placed Cheyenne Brown, 29, and Robinson at the same location on Sept. 30, the night of her disappearance.
Authorities are awaiting DNA confirmation, but believe the remains to be Brown’s based on a distinct tattoo positively identified by her family.
The remains of a second person found in a large plastic container along with Brown’s have yet to be identified, police said. A shopping cart also was found next to the container.
Robinson has a “remarkable absence” of any criminal history, Davis said. He’s being held without bond at the Rockingham-Harrisonburg Regional Jail and is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 27. His attorney, Louis Nagy, declined to comment on the charges and latest allegations when contacted by ABC News.
Authorities said they’re coming forward with their findings because they believe there may be additional victims.
“We need to act right now with our law enforcement partners to figure out who else our killer has had contact with, and what’s his M.O. — dating sites, motels, blunt force trauma, shopping cart, final resting place,” Davis said. “He’s killed four already. And we suspect that he has more victims.”
(DALLAS) — Mercedes Clement was last seen in surveillance video on Oct. 11, 2020, walking across the parking lot of the Koko Apartments in Dallas, Texas, with a man.
She hasn’t been seen or heard from again.
“In the beginning, it didn’t matter if it was a street lead or if it was an anonymous tip or if it was a psychic, we followed the lead,” said Clement’s mother, Alicia Gazotti.
She and her husband, Clement’s stepfather Emiliano Gazotti, have been searching for their 26-year-old daughter for a little over a year. They haven’t given up.
“Mercedes, she was just a gift. She was always saving her money for the homeless people, always just had this huge heart of gold, always,” said Alicia Gazotti.
On the night her daughter went missing, Gazotti said that around 10:30 p.m., Clement made some worrisome phone calls to friends.
“She called a couple of her friends and she told one girl in particular she was scared, she needed a ride to her car. Her friend said it was just eerily quiet,” said Gazotti. “And the phone disconnected and that was it. About the fourth day, when there’s no anything. Then I got worried.”
“The next day we got a piece of mail that her car had been towed and a lot of alarm bells went off for me then,” said Gazotti.
Gazotti said she went to the tow yard that same day to pick up the car, and she was alarmed to find most of her daughter’s belongings still inside.
“Her purse was in her car, her wallet was in her car, her car key was on the front seat, her bra was on the passenger seat,” said Gazotti. “We just knew something was wrong.”
In the following days, she said she tried to retrace her daughter’s steps and visited the Koko Apartment Complex where her daughter’s car had been towed from. She found crucial surveillance video she would later provide to the police.
On Oct. 26, 2020, Gazotti said she and her husband officially filed a missing persons report.
“Mercedes Clement’s case victimology, that’s very important in an investigation,” said Patty Belew, a homicide detective with the Dallas Police Department.
After nearly nine months, Belew was assigned ro Clement’s case after it was transferred from a missing persons case to homicide. She said the case was transferred because investigators suspect foul play.
“A missing persons is a warrant to locate and usually they’ll canvas a little bit and then that’s pretty much it and then they’ll move on. When it’s a homicide, then we’re out just constantly digging, trying to get information,” said Belew. “I believe that [what] we’re looking at is something has happened to her.”
During their investigation, detectives found that the surveillance camera, which captured the last time Clement was seen, had stopped recording the night of her disappearance for seven hours.
“The video we had, we’re told that it had a glitch in it. So it stopped recording, unfortunately,” said Belew.
According to Belew, she had asked the camera’s video company if glitches were normal and they said, “Not so much.”
Also in the surveillance video, detectives said they noticed the purse Clement is seen with while walking into the apartment complex is the same purse that was later found in her car.
“So either she brought it back or the people who took her put it in the car, and their intentions were to come back to the car, but the car was towed before they were able to do that,” said Belew.
The detectives with the Dallas Police Department said they are currently investigating multiple people of interest, including acquaintances from her past she knew when she was involved in drug use. They’ve also identified the man Clement was last seen with as 36-year-old Tanner Losson.
“We’ve tried to question him and he’s basically refused to speak with us,” said Belew.
Losson is currently in Dallas County Jail on unrelated charges. He did not respond to a request for comment.
“The guy that she was with, he’s not talking. He’s not talking to anybody. He maintains he doesn’t know anything,” said Gazotti.
Gazotti said she’s afraid her daughter’s case may run cold.
“I think that the media, police, missing persons units- there’s always a stigma around certain people, if they look a little different or if they’re living a different life,” said Gazzotti. “They don’t get treated with that same urgency or that same consideration or that same care.”
Of the 500,000 reported missing persons, almost half were people of color, according to the FBI.
The Dallas Police Department told ABC News that shining a spotlight on Mercedes Clement’s case could bring in tips they need to solve it and that if anyone has information about Mercedes Clement, they can call the North Texas Crime Commission at 1-877-373-TIPS.
Gazotti said she refuses to give up the search for her missing daughter.
“My daughter’s life mattered,” she said. “Everyone deserves to be found. Everybody deserves closure.”
(WASHINGTON) — The White House’s chief coordinator for the U.S. coronavirus response has a strong warning for unvaccinated Americans ahead of a projected surge in cases over the next few weeks.
If you’re vaccinated, “we’ve done the right thing, and we will get through this,” White House COVID coordinator Jeff Zients said.
“For the unvaccinated, you’re looking at a winter of severe illness and death for yourselves, your families and the hospitals you may soon overwhelm.”
In a briefing with reporters on Friday, Zients and the White House COVID-19 task force, which includes Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky and chief medical advisor Anthony Fauci, highlighted the importance of initial vaccines, which offer strong protection against severe illness, but strongly emphasized the need for fully vaccinated Americans to go out and get their booster shots, which offer the best protection against the new omicron variant.
“The optimum protection is fully vaccinated plus a boost,” Fauci said.
“So the bottom line of what we’ve been telling you all along: It is critical to get vaccinated. If you are vaccinated, it is critical for optimal protection to get boosted,” he said.
Asked if the task force is considering recommending people get boosters earlier than six months after their final shot, the current standard, Fauci said it’s “on the table.”
“You still get protection that’s reasonably good against hospitalization [with two shots]. We want to make that better with the booster,” he said.
“Whether or not we’re going to change what the time interval between your last vaccination and your boost, we always have these on the table for discussion, but right now there has not been a decision on that,” Fauci said.
Only 30% of fully vaccinated Americans have been boosted so far, and about half of fully vaccinated seniors over the age of 65 have been boosted.
But Zients said those numbers are slightly higher among eligible Americans — people who are six months past their final shot.
“The right way to think about the percent boosted is those eligible. And we’ve now boosted about 60 million Americans. That’s about 40% of the eligible Americans. Importantly, of those over 65 we are now more than 60%. And that’s important because they are the most vulnerable,” Zients said.
Still, that means the percentage of boosted Americans with optimal protection against omicron is quite low, at about four in every 10 vaccinated people. And around 40% of the country still remains completely unvaccinated.
The warnings from the White House come in the lead up to Christmas and New Year’s — the first since vaccines became widespread in the US. The holiday season has coincided with the presence of omicron, the most transmissible variant to date.
Yet the holiday guidance from the White House COVID task force continues to be that Americans can and should gather, given the existence of vaccines — a powerful mitigation tool against the virus.
But vaccines alone are not sufficient to ensure full protection, the CDC director warned, and Americans should return to the basics to steer clear of a holiday outbreak among family members.
That includes indoor masking in all public places, ruling out indoor dining or bars, social distancing, hand-washing and spending time in well-ventilated areas. But historically, the country has had a hard time sticking to these measures and is particularly fatigued two years in — circumstances that do not bode well for avoiding a surge this holiday season.
“I think we’re in a very different place this year than we were last year, and we really do want people to be able to gather and gather safely,” Walensky said.
“We have the tools now to do it and what we’re really saying is please rely on those tools. Get vaccinated. If you’re eligible for a boost, get boosted. And importantly, a week before the holidays, indoor mask in these areas that have — 90% of our counties have substantial or high transmission,” Walensky said.
“Use the next week to make sure you’re practicing those safe prevention mitigation strategies, so that when you come together for the holidays, that people have been not exposed to the virus because in fact they’ve been vaccinated, boosted and masked. And for that extra reassurance as we have more disease in this country right now, do a test and make sure that you’re negative before you mix and gather in different households,” she said.
