Chace Harrison, 11, died at Royal Hobart Hospital on Sunday afternoon, Tasmania Police said.
“Our thoughts continue to be with his family, and the families and loved ones of all the children involved, during what is an incomprehensibly difficult time,” Police Commissioner Darren Hine said in a statement.
The tragedy happened on Thursday during an end-of-year celebration at Hillcrest Primary School in Devonport, in north Tasmania. A gust of wind lifted the bouncy castle into the air, causing several children to fall from a height of about 32 feet, police said.
Police on Friday had identified the first five victims as 11-year-old Addison Stewart and 12-year-olds Peter Dodt, Zane Mellor, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones and Jye Sheehan.
“The loss of six young lives will be felt by our community for a long time – so please take care of yourselves and those around you,” Hine said on Sunday.
Two children were still in critical condition at the hospital, and one was recovering at home, police said on Sunday.
Officials said their investigation was ongoing, with forensic child interviewers from New South Wales Police Force expected to arrive in Tasmania on Sunday. They will help conduct interviews with young witnesses in the coming days, police said.
“It is paramount we don’t pre-empt any outcome until all evidence is gathered and the investigation is complete,” Commissioner Hine said. “This will allow the Coroner to determine the findings based on all the available evidence and facts.”
(WASHINGTON) — Ali Alexander, the conservative activist behind the “Stop the Steal” movement, recently told congressional investigators that he had communicated with several House Republican lawmakers ahead of the Jan. 6 rally and Capitol riot, along with at least one member of the Trump family’s inner circle.
Alexander disclosed his communications — and the relevant materials turned over to the Jan. 6 House select committee — in a new lawsuit challenging the panel from obtaining his phone records from Verizon.
“Alexander received a notice from Verizon that the Select Committee had subpoenaed Verizon for nine categories of information associated with Alexander’s personal cell phone number, including IP addresses, devices, billing addresses, account changes, a list of contacts, call session times, and dozens to hundreds of other data points or metadata from November 1, 2020 … to January 31, 2021,” according to a Friday complaint filed against lawmakers on the committee and Verizon.
Alexander had challenged the grounds for obtaining his cellphone communication, saying in the complaint the data is “not pertinent to the investigation and sweeps up privileged communications between Alexander and clergy, Alexander and people he spiritually counsels, and Alexander and his respective attorneys.”
According to the complaint, Alexander testified to the committee on Dec. 9 that he “had a few phone conversations” with Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., potentially texted Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., and spoke in person to Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz.
All three GOP lawmakers were involved in the efforts to challenge the electoral results on Jan. 6, and participated in meetings at the White House and on Capitol Hill on the subject.
Brooks released Saturday night what he said was the text he received from Alexander, showing the activist introducing himself on Dec. 16, 2020, and calling Jan. 6 “a big moment for our republic.” Brooks said he did not recognize the number at the time and called the contents “benign” anyway.
“The insinuation that this single text to Congressman Brooks from an unknown number by someone claiming to be ‘Ali Alexander’ somehow suggests Congressman Brooks in any way helped plan the Capitol attack is absurd, outrageous and defamatory,” Brooks wrote in a statement.
Alexander had boasted in a social media video in January that he had worked with the GOP lawmakers to challenge the election results. He did not take part in storming the Capitol.
“In January, Mr. Alexander held an organizing call where Members of Congress might have been present, and some were invited. He doesn’t recall who was in attendance because there was no roll call of attendees because the call was so large,” the complaint reads.
Alexander also spoke over the phone with Kimberly Guilfoyle, Donald Trump Jr.’s partner and a Trump campaign fundraiser, and told investigators it was a “short and pleasant” conversation about the Georgia Senate runoffs and GOP primaries in 2022, according to the complaint.
In January, after the Capitol riot, Biggs’s office told ABC News the congressman was “not aware of hearing of or meeting Mr. Alexander at any point — let alone working with him to organize some part of a planned protest on January 6.”
(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.
(KABUL, Afghanistan) — Around two dozen U.S.-trained former Afghan Air Force pilots are still trapped in Afghanistan and pleading for the United States government to evacuate them from the country, where they fear they face execution if found by the Taliban.
The pilots belong mostly to two helicopter squadrons and have been in hiding since the Taliban seized Kabul in August. According to several of the pilots who spoke to ABC News, they are living on the run in safe houses and struggling to feed themselves while frantically trying to find a way out of Afghanistan as the Taliban continue to search for them.
The aviators are among thousands of former Afghan military personnel who were left behind during the mass evacuations in August and who, for now, have no route out.
Former and current U.S. military officers who are lobbying to have the pilots evacuated say they are frustrated, because they believe the U.S. government’s current refugee policy treats them as a low priority despite the clear danger to them.
“They’re not really being given any kind of priority right now,” said David Hicks, CEO of Sacred Promise, an NGO created by current and former American military officers trying to help Afghan military personnel leave.
“They’re U.S.-trained, they know English, have worked with the U.S. and have fought the Taliban directly,” Hicks, a former brigadier general, told ABC News. “One would think individuals of that caliber would get some level of prioritization in the big-picture process. And here they are, just sitting in the back of the line right now.”
Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Robert Lodewick told ABC News it was aware that former members of the Afghan Air Force remain in Afghanistan and said “we are working all available options to facilitate their departure.”
He said the State Department has helped over 800 Afghan Air Force and Special Mission Wing personnel begin the resettlement process since Aug. 31.
Since taking power, the Taliban have rounded up former Afghan military personnel it believes are a threat or useful to them and, in some cases, have imprisoned or killed them. Human Rights Watch found that Taliban forces have summarily executed or disappeared over 100 former police and intelligence officers in four provinces since August. The total such killings is likely higher.
The pilots say their squadrons killed hundreds of Taliban fighters during the war, including senior commanders, meaning they will almost certainly face harsh retribution.
“Maybe they will cut our skin from our body,” one of the pilots told ABC News by phone from hiding. ABC News is not identifying him or other pilots for their security.
The pilot, a former captain, flew helicopters as part of two squadrons that were based in Kabul and Kandahar. The squadrons’ pilots were highly trained, with many receiving instruction abroad, including in the U.S., and they worked closely with American military advisers.
They were unable to get onto U.S. evacuation flights from the Kabul airport amid the city’s chaotic fall in August. Since then, the Taliban have closed Afghanistan’s borders. Commercial flights from Kabul are stopped, and chartered evacuation flights have slowed to a trickle.
Now scattered across Afghanistan, some with their families, the pilots say they are largely unable to go outside for fear of falling into the Taliban’s hands. Unable to work, their money is running out and they are increasingly struggling to feed their families amid a humanitarian catastrophe in the country, several of the pilots said.
“They left us in the really bad situation. Because even we don’t have money to buy food for our kids,” another pilot said. He has four children, ages 2 to 9, and one has a serious blood disorder.
“We fought years for U.S. goals, but in the end they left us behind alone in poverty,” he said.
More than 500 Afghan Air Force personnel were able to escape Afghanistan in August by flying their aircraft to neighboring Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. After they spent weeks in detention, the U.S. succeeded in airlifting them to Dubai, where they will be processed for resettlement to the U.S.
But the pilots trapped in Afghanistan said they have been told there is little prospect of getting them out in the short term.
One or two charter flights facilitated by the U.S. government or organized by private charities continue to leave Afghanistan most weeks, but they are mainly carrying civilians. The number of flights has greatly fallen since August, and those being approved for seats on them has slowed. Only around 3,000 Afghans have been evacuated since late September.
U.S. military officers lobbying to help the pilots said they believe, while difficult, it should be possible to get the pilots onto evacuation flights if they are given the right priority.
Hicks, of Sacred Promise, said he thinks many former Afghan military personnel are currently lower priority than civilians, despite having strong claims for refugee status.
The State Department has been prioritizing the evacuation of so-called Special Immigrant Visa or SIV holders, which are Afghans who worked directly for the U.S. mission. In early August before the Afghan government collapsed, the Biden administration created another type of refugee status, known as Priority 2, or P2, for Afghans deemed at-risk but who had not worked for the U.S. government directly. It was meant for women’s rights activists, journalists and former Afghan military personnel, but applicants must depart the country first — too high a hurdle for many.
Hicks said that system has created a situation where Afghan military personnel, despite often being in more danger than some SIV evacuees, are still stuck behind, with no prospect of fast rescue.
“I don’t understand how literally someone — no offense to anybody — but how someone could be a janitor working at the U.S. Embassy has a higher priority than an Afghan Air Force or Special Mission Wing pilot who’s been fighting the Taliban,” Hicks said.
Sacred Promise’s staff includes current military officers who for years worked as mentors with the pilots in Afghanistan and who are able to verify their identities. Hicks said the NGO has already vetted 2,000 former Afghan military personnel, who he said could immediately start being processed for asylum if evacuated.
Some senators, including Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) have called for the Biden administration to step up its efforts to get at-risk Afghans out, saying it is not doing enough.
Hicks and the pilots acknowledged that the U.S. government is facing a gargantuan challenge in getting people out. But he said he believes that since his organization is able to help vet the pilots — and considering the urgent danger to them — it makes sense to move faster on them.
“That’s the thing that frustrates us the most, and we’re trying to get the discussion why that prioritization can’t get tweaked or adjusted in this situation,” he said.
The pilots still in Afghanistan fear time is running out for any evacuation. They said they have become particularly alarmed since they now believe the Taliban has found a database that holds their personal details and biometric data, including finger prints.
Trapped at home, one of the pilots has little to do but worry. He finds himself watching videos on social media of executions of ex-Afghan military members.
“As we give them more time, they have more chance or opportunity to find us,” he said. “If I stay in Afghanistan, they will definitely arrest me one day.”
(NEW YORK) — As rates of COVID-19 infections rise during the holidays and omicron cases surface across the United States, drug companies Pfizer and Merck are preparing to launch the first COVID-19 pills. If authorized by the Food and Drug Administration, these at-home treatments could be prescribed by doctors and picked up at your local pharmacy to reduce the risk of becoming severely ill.
“In early clinical research studies, both [drugs] demonstrated a significant decrease in the progression of COVID-19 in high-risk patients,” said Dr. Roy M. Gulick, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center.
Both drug companies emphasize that their medications will likely be effective against the omicron variant.
Public health officials remain concerned about a pending winter surge. People with higher risk factors — the unvaccinated, immune compromised, elderly and those with chronic conditions — need the pills most and may benefit the most, said Dr. Arthur Kim, an infectious disease specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital.
But with both pills on the cusp of potential FDA authorization, physicians have expressed concern about uptake and access. One concern is that the pills need to be taken early — within the first three to five days after diagnosis.
They are most effective “before a person becomes critically ill,” said Dr. Paul Currier, director of the Respiratory Acute Care Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital. “Once a patient becomes critically ill, the virus has already caused a lot of inflammation in the body that likely cannot be stopped by medicines that only target the virus itself.”
That could pose a logistics challenge, experts said, as people with mild symptoms are currently encouraged to stay home to avoid spreading COVID-19 to others.
At first, the pills will only be available with a doctor’s prescription, and with health care resources still strained, “delays in testing and capacity will reduce their effectiveness in the real world,” Kim said.
Both treatments require patients to take several pills twice per day for five days.
But pharmaceutical executives are optimistic that the pills will make a significant dent in the pandemic.
Pfizer’s pill has the “potential to save the lives of patients around the world,” said Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla.
Bourla estimated that 1,200 deaths and 6,000 hospitalizations would be prevented for every 100,000 COVID-19 patients who take the pills.
But pharmaceutical companies say emphatically these pills should be used as a last resort and for patients who are already sick. Getting vaccinated is by far the safest and most effective way to prevent getting COVID-19, or becoming severely sick if you do.
“I want to emphasize that no one should use the existence of the pill as an excuse to avoid vaccination,” Bourla said.
“The best way to prevent getting seriously ill from COVID-19 is to use the strongest preventative measures we have: wearing masks and getting vaccinated,” Currier said.
When taken early, Pfizer’s treatment was 89% effective at reducing the risk of severe illness, hospitalization and/or death from COVID-19, according to the company. Merck’s pill, meanwhile, reduced the risk of severe illness, hospitalization and death by 30%, it said.
If authorized by the FDA, Merck and Pfizer’s COVID-19 pills could be available as early as next month.
Dr. Navjot Kaur Sobti is a cardiovascular disease fellow physician, rising interventional cardiology fellow and board-certified internal medicine physician at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. She is a member of the ABC News Medical Unit.
(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.
