(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden will announce a nearly $27 billion investment Friday to fund repairs and replace bridges in need.
The Department of Transportation will launch the Bridge Replacement, Rehabilitation, Preservation, Protection, and Construction Program, which will provide $26.5 billion to states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico over five years and $825 million for tribal transportation facilities.
“The Biden-Harris Administration is thrilled to launch this program to fix thousands of bridges across the country — the single largest dedicated bridge investment since the construction of the Interstate highway system,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement. “Modernizing America’s bridges will help improve safety, support economic growth, and make people’s lives better in every part of the country — across rural, suburban, urban, and tribal communities.”
The funding is part of the bipartisan infrastructure package that Biden signed into law in November. While the program is slated to help repair thousands of bridges across the country, the administration is also seeking to use the program to increase resiliency when it comes to climate change, as well as make bridges safer for cyclists and pedestrians.
Across the country, the program is expected to help repair approximately 15,000 highway bridges, and will be allocated to each state according to a needs-based formula — though the choice of which projects are undertaken are left up to the states.
While the funding for fiscal year 2022 is being released immediately, states will learn their funding totals for the full five years of the program in order to plan ahead, a senior administration official told reporters.
“As part of this announcement, the Federal Highway Administration will distribute $5.3 billion to states, D.C. and Puerto Rico for the current federal fiscal year, along with $165 million to tribes,” the official said.
Some of the states set to receive the most funding include Pennsylvania, Illinois, California and New York.
In addition to providing funds to states to replace and repair highway bridges, the program has dedicated funding for “off-system” bridges, which are often locally owned and not part of the federal highway system.
“While states generally must match federal funding with up to 20% state or local funding, the bipartisan infrastructure law allows the use of federal funds to pay for the entire cost — 100% of the cost — of repairing or rehabilitating locally owned off-system bridges,” the official stressed.
“The department encourages governors and states to take advantage of this incentive to make their federal dollars go further by focusing on local bridges,” they added.
Pressed on how the administration planned to enforce its desire to focus funds on repairs for existing bridges, and emphasizing equity when new bridges are constructed, particularly in Republican-run states, the official brushed off the concern.
“Bridges in general are neither red nor blue. They’re an important piece of infrastructure in communities,” the official said. “And the state transportation departments have a good track record of investing in bridges based on the condition of those bridges. And we’re confident that with these funds and with the guidance we’ve provided and with the conversations that we’ve been having with them, they’re going to be directing the funds to the bridges that are in most need of repair.”
(GIZA, Egypt) — Sharm El-Sheikh — Egypt said the best way to mark the centenary of Tutankhamun tomb’s discovery would be inaugurating a new state-of-the-art museum later this year to house the ancient boy king’s vast treasures.
The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), a mega project on the outskirts of the capital that Egypt said would be the biggest museum in the world dedicated to a single civilization, nears completion as the country applies the finishing touches ahead of its opening.
“If the coronavirus-related conditions are stable, then the (museum’s) opening would be in the second half of the year,” Egypt’s antiquities and tourism minister Khaled el-Anany told ABC News on the sidelines of the World Youth Forum, an annual international youth conference that the country hosts in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh.
“We will be ready by the middle of this year … but we want to make sure that our guests can arrive in large numbers. We aim to invite presidents and kings from all over the world,” el-Anany said.
The nearly 480,000 square meter museum, which overlooks the famed Giza Pyramids, will hold more than 100,000 artifacts. About 5,000 belong to Tutankhamun, the famous 18th dynasty ruler who died at the age of 19 after a 10-year reign.
The Egyptian Museum, a 120-year-old red storied structure built in Cairo’s central Tahrir square, housed less than 3,000 of those objects, including Tutankhamun’s golden burial mask. Other artifacts were kept in the museum’s storerooms.
However, a century after British archeologist Howard Carter discovered those treasures in Luxor’s Valley of the Kings in 1922, they will be displayed in full for the first time when the Grand Egyptian Museum opens.
“The GEM is distinguished by its location, architecture and the full collection of Tutankhamun,” el-Anany added.
“We are celebrating the 200-year anniversary of Egyptology and 100-year anniversary of Tutankhamun tomb’s discovery in many parts of the world through Egyptian institutions. However, I believe that the best celebration of Tutankhamun would be opening the Grand Egyptian Museum,” he said.
String of discoveries
Egypt made a string of discoveries over the past few years as it seeks to lure back tourists following the adverse effects of the political turmoil that followed the 2011 revolution and 2013 mass protests along with the COVID-19 pandemic.
The highlight of 2021, according to el-Anany, was the unearthing of a 3,000-year-old city in the southern province of Luxor, which Egypt had termed the “Lost Golden City.” It dates back to the 18th-dynasty of King Amenhotep III, who ruled Egypt from 1391 till 1353 B.C.
Egypt also held two lavish ceremonies to transfer 22 mummies from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir to a newly-inaugurated museum in the old Islamic city of Fustat in a “royal procession” and to celebrate the opening of a 3,000-year-old sphinx-filled avenue in Luxor.
“The numbers of tourists were increasing last year until December when the new coronavirus variant emerged … we are in the recovery phase, but we hope there would be no more variants,” El-Anany said.
El-Anany told ABC News that Egypt plans to announce another significant discovery in February or March, which he said will “capture the world’s attention.” However, he refused to disclose further details.
(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.5 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 843,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
About 62.6% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Jan 13, 8:39 pm
Report shows omicron’s rapid spread in NYC
Omicron became the dominant variant in New York City within five weeks after it was first detected, according to a new report released Thursday by the city’s health department.
By comparison, it took 20 weeks for the delta variant to become dominant.
The report, which details preliminary findings on the city’s omicron wave, found that there have been lower hospitalization rates but more total hospitalizations compared to the delta wave due to “significantly greater case numbers.”
Unvaccinated New Yorkers were more than eight times more likely to be hospitalized than those who were fully vaccinated early in the omicron wave, the report found. Black New Yorkers and people ages 75 and older also were more likely to be hospitalized.
Jan 13, 7:56 pm
Study finds higher risk of COVID-19 complications for unvaccinated pregnant women
Unvaccinated pregnant women with COVID-19 and their newborn babies have a higher risk of complications from the disease compared with those who are vaccinated, a new study found.
In the study, published Thursday in Nature Medicine, researchers from Public Health Scotland looked at vaccination rates and COVID-19 outcomes in 131,875 pregnant women in Scotland between Dec. 8, 2020, and Oct. 31, 2021, when the delta variant was dominant.
They found that 90.9% of COVID-19 hospital admissions, 98% of intensive care admissions and all 450 newborn deaths were in unvaccinated pregnant women.
The study reiterates the importance of pregnant women getting vaccinated against the virus due to a greater risk of dangerous health complications from COVID-19. A growing body of research has shown the vaccines to be safe and effective for pregnant women.
-ABC News’ Dr. Siobhan Deshauer, Sony Salzman and Dr. Alexis Carrington
Jan 13, 6:58 pm
Over 200 scientists, doctors sign letter in support of Fauci
Following heated exchanges between Dr. Anthony Fauci and several Republican senators at a Congressional hearing Tuesday, more than 200 prominent science and public health leaders have now penned an open letter voicing their support of the White House chief medical adviser’s service and leadership — and condemning attacks against him.
“We deplore the personal attacks on Dr. Fauci,” the letter says. “The criticism is inaccurate, unscientific, ill-founded in the facts and, increasingly, motivated by partisan politics. It is a distraction from what should be the national focus — working together to finally overcome a pandemic that is killing about 500,000 people a year.”
Signatories include former Senate majority leader Bill Frist, a Republican; Rich Besser, former acting director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; members of President Joe Biden’s transition COVID-19 task force; and several Nobel laureates.
The letter comes two days after a Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee hearing, during which Fauci publicly accused Republican Sen. Rand Paul of fomenting the violent threats and harassment that he and his family have had to contend with during the pandemic’s politicized climate.
-ABC News’ Sasha Pezenik
Jan 13, 4:23 pm
Inside an Ohio children’s hospital facing a COVID surge
More than 300 children with COVID-19 are in Ohio hospitals, including Dayton Children’s Hospital, where workers are seeing a significant increase in pediatric COVID-19-related hospitalizations.
Dr. Vipul Patel, chief of pediatric intensive care at Dayton Children’s, told ABC News the ICU is now busier than at any other point in the pandemic.
COVID-19 is only exacerbating previously existing health issues for many children, Patel explained, adding that many parents are shocked to see their children become so sick, and some families have even expressed regret for not vaccinating their kids. Nationwide, about 35% of eligible children (ages 5 to 17) are fully vaccinated, according to federal data.
Dayton Children’s respiratory therapist Hillary O’Neil said it’s been particularly difficult to see children who are too young to understand what is happening sick and scared.
“You can see it in the faces of kids that can’t talk — their eyes get really big and they, we watch them struggle to breathe,” O’Neil said. “Then on top of that we watch their parents struggle to watch their child, and that is sometimes just as hard as watching the kids.”
Jackie Kerby, whose baby, Enaeshya, is hospitalized with COVID-19, told ABC News, “She’s getting these fevers in the night, and they’re not coming down. … I am terribly scared.”
Across the U.S. more than 5,000 children are currently hospitalized with a confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19, according to federal data. On average, hospital admissions among children have quadrupled over the last month.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos, Kayna Whitworth
Jan 13, 3:20 pm
New York COVID-19 cases falling
New York state’s COVID-19 cases are falling after experiencing a major surge over the holidays, according to state data.
New York recorded 60,374 new cases in the last 24 hours — an improvement from New Year’s Day when 85,476 daily cases were reporting during a spike in testing demands.
Jan 13, 3:00 pm
Supreme Court issues stay of vaccine-or-test requirement on private businesses
The Supreme Court has issued a stay of the vaccine-or-test requirement imposed on private businesses with at least 100 employees by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
In a 6-3 ruling, with the three liberal justices dissenting, the court finds likelihood the challengers will prevail and that OSHA exceeds its authority.
At the same time, the justices voted 5-4 to allow the Biden administration to require health care workers at facilities that treat Medicare and Medicaid patients to be vaccinated, subject to religious or medical exemptions.
-ABC News’ Devin Dwyer
Jan 13, 11:22 am
8,000 Delta employees test positive within 4 weeks
About 8,000 of Delta Air Lines’ 75,000 employees had COVID-19 over the last four weeks, Delta CEO Ed Bastian told CNBC.
“Good news is that they were all fine. There’s been no significant issues,” he said.
“But it’s knocked them out of the operation” amid the busiest travel season in two years, he said.
United CEO Scott Kirby said Tuesday that around 3,000 of United workers have COVID-19 right now.
Across the U.S., 3,783 TSA employees are currently at home with COVID-19, the agency said.
-ABC News’ Mina Kaji, Sam Sweeney
Jan 13, 10:53 am
Biden: White House now trying to acquire 1 billion tests
President Joe Biden said he’s directing his team to procure 500 million additional tests to meet future demand — bringing the total to 1 billion.
Biden said the White House is on track to roll out a website next week allowing Americans to order tests shipped to their homes.
The administration will also announce next week how it’s making high-quality masks available for free, Biden said.
Biden also made a plea to social media companies and media outlets.
“Please deal with the misinformation and disinformation that’s on your shows — it has to stop,” he said. “COVID-19 is one of the most formidable enemies America has ever faced. We’ve got to work together.”
Jan 13, 10:27 am
US death toll up 50% since Christmas
The U.S. is now reporting an average of 1,650 new COVID-19-related deaths each day — up by about 50% since Christmas, according to federal data.
Indiana currently has the highest death rate, followed by Delaware and New York City.
Twenty-six states are now averaging more daily cases than at any point in the pandemic, according to federal data.
Surging national case numbers, however, may not be indicative of what is happening in every region of the country. Some areas could see a decline or a plateau in cases, according to some experts.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Jan 13, 5:02 am
Biden sending medical teams to hospitals overwhelmed by COVID-19
President Joe Biden will deploy military medical teams to hospitals in six states where COVID-19 infections are surging.
Teams of doctors, nurses and clinical personnel will be sent as early as next week to New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Rhode Island, Michigan and New Mexico, Biden is expected to announce on Thursday alongside Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell.
Biden in December directed the defense secretary to ready 1,000 military medical personnel to deploy to hospitals across the country as needed in January and February. The teams now being readied will be the first to start arriving at hospitals.
They’ll be sent to Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, Coney Island Hospital in Brooklyn, Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, Henry Ford Hospital near Detroit, University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque and University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey.
Biden, Austin and Criswell on Thursday will also “be briefed on the administration’s efforts to send resources and personnel to hard-hit communities across the country that are experiencing a surge in hospitalizations due to the Omicron variant,” according to a White House official.
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Jan 12, 7:24 pm
Testing labs now struggling with their own staffing shortages due to virus
The labs shouldering much of the nation’s PCR COVID-19 testing are getting slammed with demand again during omicron’s surge, and now they’re grappling with a new challenge: their workforces are getting hit by the virus they’ve been tasked with tracking.
The American Clinical Laboratory Association, the national trade association representing some of the leading clinical labs responsible for COVID diagnostics, is warning that their members’ workforce is strained as more workers call out sick.
“Labs are now facing a wave of new issues brought on by a fast-spreading variant that has not spared the laboratory care work force,” an ACLA spokesperson told ABC News.
COVID-19 infections have increased laboratory staff sick leave — a “significant factor in determining overall capacity” at an industry-wide level, the spokesperson said.
“We have been pressured to get our capacity where we believe it can be because of the labor problems we see,” Quest Diagnostics CEO Steve Rusckowski said Wednesday at the JPM Healthcare Conference. “Some of this is just getting the labor to do our work, but secondly, is because of callouts because of the virus have been considerable over the last two weeks.”
-ABC News’ Sasha Pezenik
Jan 12, 7:00 pm
Chicago teachers accept deal to reopen classes
Chicago teachers voted Wednesday to accept the deal made by the union and city to re start in-person classes.
The deal ended the five-day standoff after the union voted to switch to remote learning due to the omicron surge.
Union leaders made a tentative agreement on Monday and urged teachers to back the deal despite frustration that the district wouldn’t grant demands for widespread coronavirus testing or commit to districtwide remote learning during a COVID-19 surge.
The final agreement will expand COVID-19 testing and create standards to switch schools to remote learning.
The deal also resulted in the purchase of KN95 masks for students and teachers and bigger incentives to attract substitute teachers. The city also agreed to give teachers unpaid leave related to the pandemic.
Jan 12, 6:07 pm
96% of Army members fully vaccinated
The U.S. Army released an update on the vaccine status of its members.
As of Jan. 11, 96% of members are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and 97% have at least one dose, according to the Army.
All armed service members are mandated to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.
Around 18,000 members remain unvaccinated, the data showed.
The Army has chosen not to discharge unvaccinated soldiers but instead “flag” them so they’re not promoted and are not allowed to re-enlist.
“To date, Army commanders have relieved a total of six active-duty leaders, including two battalion commanders, and issued 2,994 general officer written reprimands to soldiers for refusing the vaccination order,” the Army said in a news release.
(BALTIMORE) — A federal grand jury in Maryland has indicted Marilyn Mosby, the state’s attorney for Baltimore City, on two counts of perjury and making false statements on mortgage applications that she allegedly used toward the purchase of two vacation properties in Florida, according to a case unsealed Thursday.
Mosby gained national prominence after filing charges against the six officers who arrested 25-year-old Freddie Gray in 2015. His death while in police custody led to several days of protests and at times violent unrest in Baltimore. None of the officers were eventually convicted on the charges.
The indictment alleges Mosby lied on federal loan applications, including one where she asserted she experienced “adverse financial consequences” in her position as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, while prosecutors say her gross salary of nearly $250,000 was never reduced in 2020. In fact, the indictment says Mosby’s gross salary increased by nearly $10,000 between 2019 and 2020.
As a result of her relief application, Mosby received $36,000, which she used “toward a down payment for a vacation home in Kissimmee Florida” that she purchased in September 2020.
The indictment accuses Mosby of making false statements on applications for a mortgages of nearly $500,000 for the Kissimmee, Florida, home and a nearly $430,000 mortgage for a condominium in Long Boat Key, Florida.
If convicted of the charges, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland said Mosby faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison for each of the two counts of perjury and a maximum of 30 years for each of the two counts of making false mortgage applications, though actual sentences for such crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.
Mosby has not entered a plea to any of the charges and has not had her initial appearance scheduled as of Thursday evening.
A spokesperson for Mosby did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday evening.
(HOUSTON) — A woman was killed and two children injured when a deputy collided with their vehicle while chasing a robbery suspect. Now, multiple authorities are investigating.
The incident occurred Wednesday night in Houston, after a Harris County Sheriff’s deputy picked up a call about a nearby robbery where the suspect had fled the scene, police said.
Once in the area, the deputy saw a man leave a CVS and get into a car matching the description of the one involved in the robbery, according to Houston Police Department Assistant Chief Chandra Hatcher.
“The deputy at that point in time decided to stop the vehicle on a traffic stop. The suspect did not comply and a vehicle pursuit ensued,” Hatcher told reporters during a late-night press briefing.
As the deputy entered an intersection with his lights and sirens on traveling eastbound, he collided with a black Kia Borrego traveling northbound, resulting in a “major crash,” Hatcher said.
Police are still determining which was the “striking” vehicle, and how fast the deputy was driving, the chief said.
The impact of the collision caused the Kia to roll over and strike two other cars. The deputy’s car caught fire and crashed into a nearby parking lot, striking several cars in the lot. Seven cars total were involved in the collision, police said.
The woman driving the Kia was pronounced dead at the scene. She has not been identified pending notification to family members by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences.
Two children in the car were also transported to an area hospital. A 5-year-old boy is in critical condition, while a 2-year-old girl is in stable condition, said police, who have not provided details about the kids’ relationship to the driver.
The deputy, who was pulled out of his burning patrol car by several citizens, was also hospitalized and is in stable condition, the sheriff’s office said. He has not been identified.
Three people were transported to area hospitals with minor injuries after their cars were struck, Hatcher said.
“Our deepest condolences go out [to] the family of the female that was pronounced deceased at last night’s pursuit crash at Laura Koppe & Lockwood,” Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said in a statement. “We pray for the recovery of the injured children and our deputy.”
The suspect fled the scene in what authorities believe to be a gray Lincoln Town Car, according to Gonzalez.
Surveillance footage showed that an armed robbery occurred at the CVS, Hatcher said. The sheriff’s office is investigating that incident and the first reported robbery.
The Houston Police Department is leading the ongoing investigation into the deadly crash.
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office is also investigating the crash, Hatcher said. ABC News has reached out to the office for more information on its investigation.
Surveillance footage obtained by ABC Houston station KTRK captured the deputy’s flaming car crashing into the parking lot.
Authorities commended the citizens who helped rescue the deputy from his burning car.
“We are very thankful that the citizens out here immediately jumped into action to help keep the deputy as safe as possible,” Hatcher said.
Gonzalez said he was “very grateful for the heroic actions.”
A good Samaritan, Johnny Walker, told KTRK in an emotional interview that he was finishing a job and ran outside when he heard the “boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom” of the crash.
“I ran out here to see what it is and I saw a lot of cars, but I paid attention to the fire,” he told the station. “My instincts were to go to that car and help him out, because he was crushed in on both sides.”
He said the deputy came to after they brought him inside a store, and they checked his pulse.
“I kept talking to him, ‘Stay with us. Help is on the way,'” Walker told KTRK.
Walker believes he was “at the right place at the right time,” though said through tears he was disappointed they weren’t able to help the woman who died.
According to local reports, Walker, who is homeless, was reunited with his family after they saw him in news reports about the crash.
(WASHINGTON) — Last month, President Joe Biden announced that 500 million free at-home rapid tests for COVID would be mailed out to American homes. On Thursday, Biden announced that he was doubling that promise and would now ship out another 500 million — to make 1 billion in total.
That’s on top of 50 million free at-home tests already sent to community health centers around the country, 20,000 free testing sites and an insurance reimbursement plan that goes into effect on Saturday to allow Americans to get tests covered if they find and buy them at retailers.
Taken together, it all signifies a clear effort on behalf of the administration to increase the testing supply after the omicron variant surge caught the government off guard.
But a timeline for when the 1 billion free tests will reach American households remains elusive. From obtaining the kits to packaging and mailing them to some 160 million households, the plan could take months to complete – well beyond what experts project will be the peak of the Omicron surge.
When will you see your free tests from the government?
Biden first announced the plan to ship out free tests to all Americans when it was nearly impossible to find any on pharmacy shelves and lines for testing sites were hours long. The free tests were welcome news.
But by mid-January, the Biden administration still hadn’t shipped out a single free test.
Details on the website Americans will use to request these tests will be revealed on Friday, along with information on when and how many tests each American can order, and the White House has said the first tests will be delivered by the end of the month.
Tens of millions of tests could go out in January, according to recently released contracts between the White House and testing companies, while more are expected to be delivered in February.
But interviews with the majority of the biggest at-home testing companies suggested that it will be months before all 500 million tests could reach American doorsteps, meaning it’s unlikely the average American will get free tests delivered in time for the January peak of omicron cases predicted by most models.
And on Tuesday, an official with the Department of Health and Human Services gave a clearer timeline to Congress, telling senators that the remaining 500 million tests would go out “over the next 60 days.”
So how long will it take for all 1 billion to reach Americans?
Biden’s announcement on Thursday that an extra 500 million tests would be added to the plan didn’t include any details on delivery.
If they’re sent out after the initial batch of 500 million, it will be at least mid-March before they reach Americans.
How hard will it be to deliver all of these tests?
It’s been increasingly difficult for testing companies to distribute their at-home rapid tests in the last few weeks.
“The supply chain challenges have been an issue for tests as they are with so many other goods and services,” said Mara Aspinall, the head of the National Testing Action Program at the Rockefeller Foundation, which connects testing companies with state governments.
Some of it is general supply issues, like getting individual parts required to make the tests, but more and more Aspinall said she’s hearing that companies are seeing breakdowns in their shipping process because so many people are out with COVID.
And as more testing companies are authorized by the Food and Drug Administration, there’s more competition for the shipping companies that help get these tests out.
But for Biden’s plan, the government will use the U.S. Post Office to get tests out — hopefully bypassing distribution issues that testing companies face when they have to figure it out for themselves by using a massive government institution that successfully delivered over 13 billion pieces of mail and packages for the holidays with an average delivery time of less than 3 days.
Mark Dimondstein, the president of the American Postal Workers Union, said Thursday that the Postal Service will retain up to 7,000 seasonal workers at 43 sites across the country to help package and label the tests, “and then from there, it will go into the regular mail stream,” a process that typically takes 2-5 days.
“This is absolutely feasible … as fast as the orders come in, the Postal Service should be able to handle it,” Dimondstein said. “Of course, the Biden administration needs to do its part for us to be able to do our part.”
As for the testing companies, Biden’s latest plan shows a commitment to avoiding the mistakes revealed by omicron.
Fast action requires manufacturing capabilities that the U.S. wasn’t prepared for, in part because of the unpredictability of the virus but also due to the country’s vaccine-focused approach over the past year, which drove down demand for tests and left the country with fewer tests when it needed them most.
“It is important for the U.S. to maintain the testing manufacturing capacity and supply during periods of low demand so we can respond to future variants and surges,” John Koval, a spokesperson for the at-home testing company Abbott, told ABC News last week.
“We’re on the right path now, but we can’t be complacent or think that testing won’t play a critical role in our ability to gather safely,” he said.
ABC News’ Mark Abdelmalek contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.5 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 843,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
About 62.6% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Jan 13, 4:23 pm
Inside an Ohio children’s hospital facing a COVID surge
More than 300 children with COVID-19 are in Ohio hospitals, including Dayton Children’s Hospital, where workers are seeing a significant increase in pediatric COVID-19-related hospitalizations.
Dr. Vipul Patel, chief of pediatric intensive care at Dayton Children’s, told ABC News the ICU is now busier than at any other point in the pandemic.
COVID-19 is only exacerbating previously existing health issues for many children, Patel explained, adding that many parents are shocked to see their children become so sick, and some families have even expressed regret for not vaccinating their kids. Nationwide, about 35% of eligible children (ages 5 to 17) are fully vaccinated, according to federal data.
Dayton Children’s respiratory therapist Hillary O’Neil said it’s been particularly difficult to see children who are too young to understand what is happening sick and scared.
“You can see it in the faces of kids that can’t talk — their eyes get really big and they, we watch them struggle to breathe,” O’Neil said. “Then on top of that we watch their parents struggle to watch their child, and that is sometimes just as hard as watching the kids.”
Jackie Kerby, whose baby, Enaeshya, is hospitalized with COVID-19, told ABC News, “She’s getting these fevers in the night, and they’re not coming down. … I am terribly scared.”
Across the U.S. more than 5,000 children are currently hospitalized with a confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19, according to federal data. On average, hospital admissions among children have quadrupled over the last month.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos, Kayna Whitworth
Jan 13, 3:20 pm
New York COVID-19 cases falling
New York state’s COVID-19 cases are falling after experiencing a major surge over the holidays, according to state data.
New York recorded 60,374 new cases in the last 24 hours — an improvement from New Year’s Day when 85,476 daily cases were reporting during a spike in testing demands.
Jan 13, 3:00 pm
Supreme Court issues stay of vaccine-or-test requirement on private businesses
The Supreme Court has issued a stay of the vaccine-or-test requirement imposed on private businesses with at least 100 employees by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
In a 6-3 ruling, with the three liberal justices dissenting, the court finds likelihood the challengers will prevail and that OSHA exceeds its authority.
At the same time, the justices voted 5-4 to allow the Biden administration to require health care workers at facilities that treat Medicare and Medicaid patients to be vaccinated, subject to religious or medical exemptions.
-ABC News’ Devin Dwyer
Jan 13, 11:22 am
8,000 Delta employees test positive within 4 weeks
About 8,000 of Delta Air Lines’ 75,000 employees had COVID-19 over the last four weeks, Delta CEO Ed Bastian told CNBC.
“Good news is that they were all fine. There’s been no significant issues,” he said.
“But it’s knocked them out of the operation” amid the busiest travel season in two years, he said.
United CEO Scott Kirby said Tuesday that around 3,000 of United workers have COVID-19 right now.
Across the U.S., 3,783 TSA employees are currently at home with COVID-19, the agency said.
-ABC News’ Mina Kaji, Sam Sweeney
Jan 13, 10:53 am
Biden: White House now trying to acquire 1 billion tests
President Joe Biden said he’s directing his team to procure 500 million additional tests to meet future demand — bringing the total to 1 billion.
Biden said the White House is on track to roll out a website next week allowing Americans to order tests shipped to their homes.
The administration will also announce next week how it’s making high-quality masks available for free, Biden said.
Biden also made a plea to social media companies and media outlets.
“Please deal with the misinformation and disinformation that’s on your shows — it has to stop,” he said. “COVID-19 is one of the most formidable enemies America has ever faced. We’ve got to work together.”
Jan 13, 10:27 am
US death toll up 50% since Christmas
The U.S. is now reporting an average of 1,650 new COVID-19-related deaths each day — up by about 50% since Christmas, according to federal data.
Indiana currently has the highest death rate, followed by Delaware and New York City.
Twenty-six states are now averaging more daily cases than at any point in the pandemic, according to federal data.
Surging national case numbers, however, may not be indicative of what is happening in every region of the country. Some areas could see a decline or a plateau in cases, according to some experts.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Jan 13, 5:02 am
Biden sending medical teams to hospitals overwhelmed by COVID-19
President Joe Biden will deploy military medical teams to hospitals in six states where COVID-19 infections are surging.
Teams of doctors, nurses and clinical personnel will be sent as early as next week to New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Rhode Island, Michigan and New Mexico, Biden is expected to announce on Thursday alongside Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell.
Biden in December directed the defense secretary to ready 1,000 military medical personnel to deploy to hospitals across the country as needed in January and February. The teams now being readied will be the first to start arriving at hospitals.
They’ll be sent to Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, Coney Island Hospital in Brooklyn, Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, Henry Ford Hospital near Detroit, University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque and University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey.
Biden, Austin and Criswell on Thursday will also “be briefed on the administration’s efforts to send resources and personnel to hard-hit communities across the country that are experiencing a surge in hospitalizations due to the Omicron variant,” according to a White House official.
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Jan 12, 7:24 pm
Testing labs now struggling with their own staffing shortages due to virus
The labs shouldering much of the nation’s PCR COVID-19 testing are getting slammed with demand again during omicron’s surge, and now they’re grappling with a new challenge: their workforces are getting hit by the virus they’ve been tasked with tracking.
The American Clinical Laboratory Association, the national trade association representing some of the leading clinical labs responsible for COVID diagnostics, is warning that their members’ workforce is strained as more workers call out sick.
“Labs are now facing a wave of new issues brought on by a fast-spreading variant that has not spared the laboratory care work force,” an ACLA spokesperson told ABC News.
COVID-19 infections have increased laboratory staff sick leave — a “significant factor in determining overall capacity” at an industry-wide level, the spokesperson said.
“We have been pressured to get our capacity where we believe it can be because of the labor problems we see,” Quest Diagnostics CEO Steve Rusckowski said Wednesday at the JPM Healthcare Conference. “Some of this is just getting the labor to do our work, but secondly, is because of callouts because of the virus have been considerable over the last two weeks.”
-ABC News’ Sasha Pezenik
Jan 12, 7:00 pm
Chicago teachers accept deal to reopen classes
Chicago teachers voted Wednesday to accept the deal made by the union and city to re start in-person classes.
The deal ended the five-day standoff after the union voted to switch to remote learning due to the omicron surge.
Union leaders made a tentative agreement on Monday and urged teachers to back the deal despite frustration that the district wouldn’t grant demands for widespread coronavirus testing or commit to districtwide remote learning during a COVID-19 surge.
The final agreement will expand COVID-19 testing and create standards to switch schools to remote learning.
The deal also resulted in the purchase of KN95 masks for students and teachers and bigger incentives to attract substitute teachers. The city also agreed to give teachers unpaid leave related to the pandemic.
Jan 12, 6:07 pm
96% of Army members fully vaccinated
The U.S. Army released an update on the vaccine status of its members.
As of Jan. 11, 96% of members are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and 97% have at least one dose, according to the Army.
All armed service members are mandated to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.
Around 18,000 members remain unvaccinated, the data showed.
The Army has chosen not to discharge unvaccinated soldiers but instead “flag” them so they’re not promoted and are not allowed to re-enlist.
“To date, Army commanders have relieved a total of six active-duty leaders, including two battalion commanders, and issued 2,994 general officer written reprimands to soldiers for refusing the vaccination order,” the Army said in a news release.
(WASHINGTON) — As President Joe Biden headed to Capitol Hill on Thursday in an attempt to persuade Democratic lawmakers to back a major change to the Senate’s rules that would allow voting rights legislation to move forward, two key Democratic senators again rejected the idea.
Making the trip risked his political capital, after delivering an impassioned speech Tuesday in which he said there was “no option” except for senators to do away with the filibuster — a rule that requires 60 votes, rather than a simple majority of 50, to advance most legislation — if the bills could not be advanced another way.
“I’ve been having these quiet conversations with members of Congress for the last two months,” he said Tuesday. “I’m tired of being quiet!”
The president entered the Democratic caucus room to applause shortly after 1 p.m.
But Biden quickly faced a losing battle in transforming his rhetoric into action as a pair of Democratic senators — Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona — repeated their steadfast opposition to changing the filibuster.
Even as he headed to Capitol Hill Thursday, Sinema made a Senate floor speech saying she would not support changing the rule.
“There’s no need for me to restate my longstanding support for the 60-vote threshold to pass legislation. There’s no need for me to restate its role in protecting our country from wild reversals of federal policy,” Sinema said. “This week’s harried discussions about Senate rules are but a poor substitute for what I believe could have and should have been a thoughtful public debate at any time over the past year.”
“Demands to eliminate this threshold from whichever party holds the fleeting majority amount to a group of people separated on two sides of a canyon, shouting that solution to their colleagues,” she added.
And soon after, Manchin told reporters he thought Sinema did a “great job” in her floor speech and said that the Senate needs “rules changes” but “not getting rid of the filibuster” — a blow to Biden before he even arrived on the Hill for the Democratic caucus lunch.
After emerging from the closed-door meeting with Senate Democrats, Biden said, “The honest to God answer is, I don’t know whether we can get this done.” He added, “I hope we can get this done, but I’m not sure. But one thing for certain, one thing for certain. Like every other major civil rights bill that came along, if we miss the first time, we can come back and try it a second time. We missed this time.”
He referred to efforts in Republican-led states to pass more restrictive voting laws. “The state legislative bodies continue to change the law, not as to who can vote, but who gets to count the vote. Count the vote. Count the vote. It’s about election subversion, not just whether or not people get to vote: who counts the vote. That’s what it’s about. That’s what makes this so different than anything else we’ve ever done.”
Biden has made clear this week who he thinks would be to blame if he’s unsuccessful: Republicans, who he said Tuesday were choosing the side of standing in the way of advancing civil rights if they block the bills.
And all 50 Republican senators oppose the bills, which Democrats say are needed to create national standards for making voting more accessible and to put a check on new state laws that make it more difficult for members of minority groups and others to cast their ballots.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared visibly angry Wednesday as he blasted Biden’s speech, calling it “profoundly, profoundly unpresidential.” He deemed the remarks a “rant” that “was incoherent, incorrect and beneath his office.”
When asked by ABC News about McConnell’s rebuke, Biden said: “I like Mitch McConnell. He’s a friend.”
Despite Biden’s support for a carveout to the filibuster, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Wednesday that Democrats planned to use existing rules to prevent Republicans from using the filibuster to block debate from starting.
House Democrats are expected to replace an existing piece of legislation — one that would not require a vote for debate to begin — with both the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, allowing them to bypass Republicans’ attempts to block the legislation from debate.
“The Senate will finally debate voting rights legislation, and then every Senator will be faced with a choice of whether or not to pass the legislation to protect our democracy,” Schumer wrote in a memo to the Democratic Caucus Wednesday.
Still, Republicans will have another opportunity to block the bill from passing by filibustering before debate ends. Without changing the rules around the filibuster, the legislation will still require 60 votes to pass.
Biden, a veteran of the Senate and a self-described “institutionalist,” has undergone an evolution in his view of the filibuster during the first year as president.
In an interview in March, Biden told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos that he supports bringing back the “talking filibuster,” a version of the rule that would require a senator to “stand up and command the floor” and “keep talking” in order to hold up legislation.
Biden went further during a CNN town hall in October, noting that he would be open to “fundamentally altering” the filibuster on issues of particular consequence like voting rights.
But Biden’s most definitive comments came in December while speaking with ABC News’ David Muir, saying he would support a carveout to the filibuster in order to pass the voting rights legislation if that was the “only thing” standing in the way.
“If the only thing standing between getting voting rights legislation passed and not getting passed is the filibuster, I support making the exception of voting rights for the filibuster,” Biden told Muir.
ABC News’ Trish Turner and Allison Pecorin contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. Embassy and other parts of the Green Zone in Baghdad were attacked by “terrorist groups” Thursday, according to the embassy.
“The U.S. Embassy compound was attacked this evening by terrorist groups attempting to undermine Iraq’s security, sovereignty and international relations,” the embassy said in a tweet. “We have long said that these sorts of reprehensible attacks are an assault not just on diplomatic facilities, but on the sovereignty of Iraq itself.”
This is the latest rocket or drone attack on the U.S. presence in Iraq and neighboring Syria in recent weeks, though so far none have caused any American casualties.
No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack. Iran-backed militias have conducted previous attacks, including last Thursday, calling them retribution for the U.S. strike that killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani two years ago this month.
Security sources told ABC News that three rockets were fired from the Dora area, south of Baghdad. Two were intercepted, and one landed inside a school in the Green Zone, causing damage and injuring a woman and a girl.
“In a cowardly terrorist act, the innocent residents of the Green Zone in Baghdad and the headquarters of the diplomatic missions that the Iraqi security forces bear the responsibility of protecting were attacked by a number of missiles launched from the Dora area south of the capital, which led to the injury of a girl and a woman,” the Iraqi government said.
The Green Zone is a heavily fortified area of Iraq that is home to various governmental buildings as well as several foreign embassies.
“We’re still assessing the damage,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Thursday. “We’re still assessing the health and safety of our people.”
ABC News’ Luis Martinez contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden headed to Capitol Hill Thursday in an attempt to persuade Democratic lawmakers to back a major change to the Senate’s rules that would allow a pair of voting rights bills to move forward.
The trip amounts to him putting his money where his mouth is, after delivering an impassioned speech Tuesday in which he said there was “no option” except for senators to do away with the filibuster — a rule that requires 60 votes, rather than a simple majority of 50, to advance most legislation — if the bills could not be advanced another way.
“I’ve been having these quiet conversations with members of Congress for the last two months,” he said Tuesday. “I’m tired of being quiet!”
The White House has said that in the wake of his speech in Atlanta — where Biden was joined by Vice President Kamala Harris — Biden and Harris “will be working the phones over the next several days pushing members of the Senate to support voting rights legislation and changes to Senate rules.”
On Thursday, the White House said, Biden will meet with Senate Democrats “to discuss the urgent need to pass legislation to protect the constitutional right to vote” and “again underline that doing so requires changing the rules of the Senate to make the institution work again.”
But Biden faces an uphill battle transforming rhetoric into action. A pair of Democratic senators — Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona — have remained intransigent in their opposition to taking such a step.
Sinema reiterated in a Senate floor speech Thursday, as Biden prepared to head to the Hill, that she would not support changing the rule.
“There’s no need for me to restate my longstanding support for the 60-vote threshold to pass legislation. There’s no need for me to restate its role in protecting our country from wild reversals of federal policy,” Sinema said. “This week’s harried discussions about Senate rules are but a poor substitute for what I believe could have and should have been a thoughtful public debate at any time over the past year.”
“Demands to eliminate this threshold from whichever party holds the fleeting majority amount to a group of people separated on two sides of a canyon, shouting that solution to their colleagues,” she added.
With prospects of passage so uncertain even after his fiery speech, the president is risking his political capital, particularly as he struggles to get another domestic priority — his “Build Back Better” social legislation — through the Senate.
Biden has made clear this week who he thinks would be to blame if he’s unsuccessful: Republicans, who he said Tuesday were choosing the side of standing in the way of advancing civil rights if they block the bills.
And all 50 Republican senators oppose the bills, which Democrats say are needed to create national standards for making voting more accessible and to put a check on new state laws that make it more difficult for members of minority groups and others to cast their ballots.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared visibly angry Wednesday as he blasted Biden’s speech, calling it “profoundly, profoundly unpresidential.” He deemed the remarks a “rant” that “was incoherent, incorrect and beneath his office.”
When asked by ABC News about McConnell’s rebuke, Biden said: “I like Mitch McConnell. He’s a friend.”
Despite Biden’s support for a carveout to the filibuster, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Wednesday that Democrats planned to use existing rules to prevent Republicans from using the filibuster to block debate from starting.
House Democrats are expected to replace an existing piece of legislation — one that would not require a vote for debate to begin — with both the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, allowing them to bypass Republicans’ attempts to block the legislation from debate.
“The Senate will finally debate voting rights legislation, and then every Senator will be faced with a choice of whether or not to pass the legislation to protect our democracy,” Schumer wrote in a memo to the Democratic Caucus Wednesday.
Still, Republicans will have another opportunity to block the bill from passing by filibustering before debate ends. Without changing the rules around the filibuster, the legislation will still require 60 votes to pass.
Biden, a veteran of the Senate and a self-described “institutionalist,” has undergone an evolution in his view of the filibuster during the first year as president.
In an interview in March, Biden told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos that he supports bringing back the “talking filibuster,” a version of the rule that would require a senator to “stand up and command the floor” and “keep talking” in order to hold up legislation.
Biden went further during a CNN town hall in October, noting that he would be open to “fundamentally altering” the filibuster on issues of particular consequence like voting rights.
But Biden’s most definitive comments came in December while speaking with ABC News’ David Muir, saying he would support a carveout to the filibuster in order to pass the voting rights legislation if that was the “only thing” standing in the way.
“If the only thing standing between getting voting rights legislation passed and not getting passed is the filibuster, I support making the exception of voting rights for the filibuster,” Biden told Muir.
ABC News’ Trish Turner and Allison Pecorin contributed to this report.
