(NEW YORK) — Millions of Americans woke up to the coldest air of the season on Tuesday morning.
Temperatures plummeted overnight as an arctic blast moved into the northeastern United States.
By morning, the wind chill — what temperature it feels like — had dropped near or below zero degrees Fahrenheit in several areas along Interstate 95, including Philadelphia, New York City and Boston. Meanwhile, parts of upstate New York and northern Maine were almost 30 or 40 below zero.
The frigid air produced blinding lake-effect snowbands in western New York and Pennsylvania. Up to 30 inches of snow fell in 24 hours near the tiny town of Osceola, New York, some 55 miles north of Syracuse.
As of Tuesday morning, the National Weather Service has issued alerts for wind chill and lake-effect snow in 10 U.S. states, from Wisconsin to Maine.
Temperatures are expected to warm up slightly in the afternoon, with numbers in the teens for Boston and New York City, though the wind chill will still be close to zero at times.
The arctic blast is forecast to continue for the next 24 hours.
The wind chill is expected to be in the teens and single digits along the I-95 corridor on Wednesday morning, before temperatures rebound to near 40 and 50 degrees on Thursday from Boston to Washington, D.C.
(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.4 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 839,000 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 11, 7:58 am
Mexico’s president reveals he has COVID-19 for 2nd time
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has been reinfected with COVID-19.
Lopez Obrador, 68, who is fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and received a booster shot in December, revealed Monday evening that he has tested positive for the virus a second time.
“Although the symptoms are mild, I will remain in isolation and will only do office work and communicate virtually until I get through it,” the president wrote on Twitter. “In the meantime, the interior secretary, Adan Augusto Lopez Hernandez, will take over for me at press conferences and other events.”
The announcement came after two of the president’s cabinet secretaries announced that they had tested positive for COVID-19 in recent days. Lopez Obrador attended a press conference earlier Monday without wearing a face mask.
The president, who has been accused of downplaying the highly contagious omicron variant as “a little COVID,” contracted the virus for the first time and recovered in early 2021.
Jan 11, 7:00 am
Red Cross declares ‘dire’ blood shortage as omicron surges
The American Red Cross said on Tuesday it’s facing its worst blood shortage in over a decade.
“While some types of medical care can wait, others can’t,” said Dr. Pampee Young, chief medical officer of the Red Cross, in a statement. “Hospitals are still seeing accident victims, cancer patients, those with blood disorders like sickle cell disease, and individuals who are seriously ill who all need blood transfusions to live even as Omicron cases surge across the country.”
The Red Cross, which supplies about 40% of the nation’s blood, said it saw donor numbers fall as the delta variant of COVID-19 spread in August. The number of blood donors has fallen by about 10% since the beginning of the pandemic. That trend continued as omicron spread, the organization said.
“We’re doing everything we can to increase blood donations to ensure every patient can receive medical treatments without delay, but we cannot do it without more donors,” Young said. “We need the help of the American people.”
Jan 11, 6:27 am
Omicron to infect over 50% of Europe’s population within weeks, WHO warns
The highly contagious omicron variant is expected to infect more than half of Europe’s population within the next two months, the World Health Organization’s top official in the region warned Tuesday.
Over 7 million newly confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported across Europe in the first week of 2022, more than doubling over a two-week period. So far, 50 countries in the region have detected omicron infections, according to Dr. Hans Kluge, the WHO’s regional director for Europe.
Kluge said omicron, which was first identified in southern Africa in November, “represents a new west-to-east tidal wave” and is “quickly becoming the dominant [variant] in western Europe and is now spreading in the Balkans.”
“As of Jan. 10, 26 countries report that over 1% of their population is catching COVID-19 each week,” Kluge told reporters during a press conference Tuesday. “At this rate, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation forecasts that more than 50% of the population in the region will be infected in the next six to eight weeks.”
Jan 11, 4:40 am
Over 65,000 Los Angeles public school staff and students test positive for COVID-19
More than 65,000 public school staff and students in Los Angeles have tested positive for COVID-19 as the nation’s second-largest school district returns to classrooms on Tuesday.
The Los Angeles Unified School District is requiring all employees and students to get tested for COVID-19 before returning for the Spring semester. Staff headed back to campuses on Monday, while the first day of classes for students was pushed back to Tuesday.
As of Monday evening, 424,230 employees and students have been tested and 65,630 were positive for the virus. The student positivity rate stands at 16.6% and the employee positivity rate stands at 14.9%, according to data released by the Los Angeles Unified School District.
“Our positivity rate remains lower than the overall county positivity rate as a result of our heightened safety measures and the continued partnership of families and employees,” the school district said in a statement Monday evening.
Since the start of the pandemic, Los Angeles County has reported a total of more than 2 million cases of COVID-19, with a positivity rate of 21.4%, according to data released Monday evening by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
Jan 11, 2:49 am
Pentagon spends $442.1 million on Pfizer antiviral pills
The U.S. Department of Defense announced a $442.1-million contract with Pfizer to produce 835,000 doses of Paxlovid, the first oral antiviral authorized to treat Covid-19.
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said on Monday he expected distribution of the pill to rise “exponentially” in the coming months, with 6 million courses available by March.
The Pentagon’s announcement came less than a week after the White House announced it would double its purchase of Paxlovid from 10 million to 20 million treatment courses, with 10 million treatment courses ready by June.
The estimated completion for the Pentagon’s contract was set for the end of March, officials said on Monday.
(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.4 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 839,000 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 11, 9:50 am
Florida sees over 126,000 cases in 1 weekend
Florida reported 126,704 new COVID-19 cases this weekend, ABC Miami affiliate WPLG reported, citing CDC data.
Orlando opened a new testing site Monday at Camping World Stadium.
Jan 11, 9:20 am
United cuts flights, 3,000 employees out with COVID-19
About 3,000 United Airlines workers currently have COVID-19, though none are in the hospital, the airline said.
On one recent day, one-third of all United Airlines employees at Newark Airport called in sick, the airline said.
United CEO Scott Kirby said the airline is cutting its near-term flight schedule to ensure they have enough staffing.
Kirby added that, prior to the vaccine requirement, United had one employee die each week from COVID-19.
-ABC News’ Sam Sweeney
Jan 11, 8:35 am
3 cities, 20 million people under lockdown in China
Some 20 million people across three Chinese cities are now under lockdown due to COVID-19 outbreaks.
Anyang, home to 5.5 million people, was the latest city to lock down its residents after discovering two cases of the fast-spreading omicron variant. Another 13 million people are under lock down in Xi’ian and 1.1 million in Yuzhou, with both cities still battling the highly contagious delta variant. Neither has reported any cases of omicron.
Meanwhile, restrictions have been imposed in the port city of Tianjin, about 80 miles southeast of Beijing, which is to host the 2022 Winter Olympics next month. The city’s 14 million people are being tested for COVID-19 after two locally transmitted cases of omicron were detected over the weekend — the first for mainland China.
-ABC News’ Karson Yiu
Jan 11, 7:58 am
Mexico’s president reveals he has COVID-19 for 2nd time
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has been reinfected with COVID-19.
Lopez Obrador, 68, who is fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and received a booster shot in December, revealed Monday evening that he has tested positive for the virus a second time.
“Although the symptoms are mild, I will remain in isolation and will only do office work and communicate virtually until I get through it,” the president wrote on Twitter. “In the meantime, the interior secretary, Adan Augusto Lopez Hernandez, will take over for me at press conferences and other events.”
The announcement came after two of the president’s cabinet secretaries announced that they had tested positive for COVID-19 in recent days. Lopez Obrador attended a press conference earlier Monday without wearing a face mask.
The president, who has been accused of downplaying the highly contagious omicron variant as “a little COVID,” contracted the virus for the first time and recovered in early 2021.
Jan 11, 7:00 am
Red Cross declares ‘dire’ blood shortage as omicron surges
The American Red Cross said on Tuesday it’s facing its worst blood shortage in over a decade.
“While some types of medical care can wait, others can’t,” said Dr. Pampee Young, chief medical officer of the Red Cross, in a statement. “Hospitals are still seeing accident victims, cancer patients, those with blood disorders like sickle cell disease, and individuals who are seriously ill who all need blood transfusions to live even as Omicron cases surge across the country.”
The Red Cross, which supplies about 40% of the nation’s blood, said it saw donor numbers fall as the delta variant of COVID-19 spread in August. The number of blood donors has fallen by about 10% since the beginning of the pandemic. That trend continued as omicron spread, the organization said.
“We’re doing everything we can to increase blood donations to ensure every patient can receive medical treatments without delay, but we cannot do it without more donors,” Young said. “We need the help of the American people.”
Jan 11, 6:27 am
Omicron to infect over 50% of Europe’s population within weeks, WHO warns
The highly contagious omicron variant is expected to infect more than half of Europe’s population within the next two months, the World Health Organization’s top official in the region warned Tuesday.
Over 7 million newly confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported across Europe in the first week of 2022, more than doubling over a two-week period. So far, 50 countries in the region have detected omicron infections, according to Dr. Hans Kluge, the WHO’s regional director for Europe.
Kluge said omicron, which was first identified in southern Africa in November, “represents a new west-to-east tidal wave” and is “quickly becoming the dominant [variant] in western Europe and is now spreading in the Balkans.”
“As of Jan. 10, 26 countries report that over 1% of their population is catching COVID-19 each week,” Kluge told reporters during a press conference Tuesday. “At this rate, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation forecasts that more than 50% of the population in the region will be infected in the next six to eight weeks.”
Jan 11, 4:40 am
Over 65,000 Los Angeles public school staff and students test positive for COVID-19
More than 65,000 public school staff and students in Los Angeles have tested positive for COVID-19 as the nation’s second-largest school district returns to classrooms on Tuesday.
The Los Angeles Unified School District is requiring all employees and students to get tested for COVID-19 before returning for the Spring semester. Staff headed back to campuses on Monday, while the first day of classes for students was pushed back to Tuesday.
As of Monday evening, 424,230 employees and students have been tested and 65,630 were positive for the virus. The student positivity rate stands at 16.6% and the employee positivity rate stands at 14.9%, according to data released by the Los Angeles Unified School District.
“Our positivity rate remains lower than the overall county positivity rate as a result of our heightened safety measures and the continued partnership of families and employees,” the school district said in a statement Monday evening.
Since the start of the pandemic, Los Angeles County has reported a total of more than 2 million cases of COVID-19, with a positivity rate of 21.4%, according to data released Monday evening by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
Jan 11, 2:49 am
Pentagon spends $442.1 million on Pfizer antiviral pills
The U.S. Department of Defense announced a $442.1-million contract with Pfizer to produce 835,000 doses of Paxlovid, the first oral antiviral authorized to treat Covid-19.
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said on Monday he expected distribution of the pill to rise “exponentially” in the coming months, with 6 million courses available by March.
The Pentagon’s announcement came less than a week after the White House announced it would double its purchase of Paxlovid from 10 million to 20 million treatment courses, with 10 million treatment courses ready by June.
The estimated completion for the Pentagon’s contract was set for the end of March, officials said on Monday.
(ATLANTA) — With less than 10 months until the 2022 midterm elections, President Joe Biden heads to Georgia on Tuesday to make his biggest push yet for national voting rights bills and is expected to call for changes to the Senate’s filibuster rules in order to get them passed.
Echoing his impassioned address on the anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection when he blamed former President Donald Trump and his supporters for holding a “dagger at the throat of democracy,” Biden’s remarks in Atlanta are expected to be a “forceful” call to action to protect voting rights.
“The president will forcefully advocate for protecting the most bedrock American rights: the right to vote and have your voice counted in a free, fair and secure election that is not tainted … by partisan manipulation,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki previewed in her press briefing Tuesday.
“He’ll make clear in the former district of the late Congressman John Lewis, that the only way to do that are (sic) for the Senate to pass the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.”
In excerpts of the speech released Tuesday morning, the White House said Biden will pressure the Senate to act.
“The next few days, when these bills come to a vote, will mark a turning point in this nation. Will we choose democracy over autocracy, light over shadow, justice over injustice?” he was expected to say. “I know where I stand. I will not yield. I will not flinch. I will defend your right to vote and our democracy against all enemies foreign and domestic. And so the question is where will the institution of United States Senate stand?”
Georgia is one of 19 states that have passed new restrictive voting laws since the 2020 election.
There have been 34 such new laws in total accross the country, according to the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice, and most of them in states controlled by Republicans.
Many of the new laws, fueled by false claims of widespread election fraud by the former president, take aim at mail-in voting, implement stricter voter ID requirements, allow fewer early voting days and limit ballot drop boxes.
The Brennan Center calculates that 13 more restrictive laws are in the works, including one in Georgia that would ban the use of ballot boxes altogether.
Biden will be speaking alongside Vice President Kamala Harris from the grounds of Clark Atlanta University and Morehouse College, but the trip has been met with criticism from some voting groups that warned in a statement to the Atlanta Constitution-Journal that “anything less” than a finalized plan to pass voting rights in the House and Senate is insufficient and unwelcome.”
On Monday afternoon, The Asian American Advocacy Fund, Atlanta North Georgia Labor Council, Black Voters Matter Fund, GALEO Impact Fund and New Georgia Project Action Fund all said they won’t be attending the event and asked Biden and Harris to stay in Washington.
“We don’t need another speech,” said Cliff Albright, executive director of the Black Voters Matter Fund. “What we need is action — what we need is a plan.”
Biden’s speech will be the third he has delivered focused on the issue of voting rights. It comes after the president signaled in an interview with ABC “World News Tonight” anchor David Muir that he would be open to making a one-time Senate rule change to the filibuster that would allow a simple majority to pass new voting laws.
Psaki said the president would directly address the issue of the filibuster.
“The President has spoken to this issue a number of times, as I’ve said before, including as recently as December where he said that, ‘if that is how we get this done, I’m open to that,'” Psaki said.
The president’s message, according to Psaki, will include a call to “ensure January 6 doesn’t mark the end of democracy, but the beginning of a renaissance for our democracy, where we stand up for the right to vote and have that vote counted fairly, not undermined by partisans.”
In her briefing, Psaki pushed back on criticism of the president, stressing that the speech Tuesday is focused on moving forward.
“We understand the frustration by many advocates that this is not passed into law yet. He would love to have signed this into law himself. But tomorrow’s an opportunity to speak about what the path forward looks like to advocate for — for this moving forward in the Senate.”
While Biden has signaled his openness to passing voting rights with a carveout to the filibuster, he would still need the support of all 50 Democratic senators to do so — which could prove challenging with holdout Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema.
“Look, I think that everyone is going to have to take a hard look at where they want to be at this moment in history as we’re looking at efforts across the country to prevent people from being able to exercise their fundamental rights,” Psaki said when asked about Sinema’s opposition.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has promised a vote on voting rights legislation soon and warned that if Republicans filibuster the effort, he will force another vote by Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
The White House insists Biden will “work in lockstep” with Schumer to move a vote forward but are taking it “day by day.”
Republicans oppose the proposed federal voting laws as a government overreach, and Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell has said Democrats are promoting a “fake narrative,” “fake outrage” and “fake hysteria” on voting rights “ginned up by partisans.”
Harris was tasked in June by the president to lead the administration’s efforts on voting rights reforms. Psaki said the vice president has worked to “help build a groundswell of support” and has been meeting with a number of advocates on the issue.
ABC News’ Meg Cunningham contributed to this report.
A sample of the new quarter coming out in 2022 that on the tail side will show images of poet Maya Angelou. – (U.S. Mint)
(WASHINGTON) — Americans will soon be seeing the face of the late Maya Angelou on U.S. quarters.
On Monday, the United States Mint announced it has begun shipping quarters featuring Angelou, the first of five trailblazing American women to be featured on quarters in 2022.
The new quarter, available in local banks starting in late January, depicts Angelou, an award-winning author and civil rights activist, with her arms uplifted, in front of a bird in flight and a rising sun, images that are “inspired by [Angelou’s] poetry and symbolic of the way she lived,” according to the Mint.
Angelou is now the first Black woman to appear on a U.S. quarter.
The heads side of the quarter featuring Angelou also marks a first, according to the Mint. It depicts a portrait of George Washington originally composed by Laura Gardin Fraser, described by the Mint as “one of the most prolific female sculptors of the early 20th century.”
Gardin Fraser’s portrait was a recommended design for the quarter in 1932, but was not chosen by the then-treasury secretary.
“Laura Gardin Fraser was the first woman to design a U.S. commemorative coin, and her work is lauded in both numismatic and artistic circles,” Mint Deputy Director Ventris C. Gibson said in a statement. “Ninety years after she intended for it to do so, her obverse design will fittingly take its place on the quarter.”
The designs are part of the American Women Quarters Program, a four year program featuring coins with reverse (tails) designs of women who have made their mark in American history.
For each year until 2025, the Mint will issue five quarters honoring individuals with a wide range of accomplishments and fields, including suffrage, civil rights, abolition, government, humanities, science, space and the arts.
In addition to Angelou, the women being featured this year include Anna May Wong, the first Chinese American film star in Hollywood; Dr. Sally Ride, the first American woman to soar into space; Wilma Mankiller, the first woman elected principal chief of the Cherokee Nation and an activist for Native American and women’s rights; and Nina Otero-Warren, a leader in New Mexico’s suffrage movement and the first female superintendent of Santa Fe public schools.
“Each 2022 quarter is designed to reflect the breadth and depth of accomplishments being celebrated throughout this historic coin program,” Gibson said. “Maya Angelou, featured on the reverse of this first coin in the series, used words to inspire and uplift.”
Angelou was the author of more than 30 bestselling titles, including her autobiography, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. A teacher, poet and performer, in addition to her work as a writer and social activist, Angelou became the first African-American woman to write and present a poem at a Presidential inauguration when she read “On the Pulse of Morning” at then-President Bill Clinton’s 1992 inauguration, according to the Mint.
In 2010, Angelou was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by then-President Barack Obama.
(NEW YORK) — Scientists are researching how to promote global diversity amid warming temperatures, but some of the methods that could prove effective may be further hindered by climate change, according to new research.
The mass-clearing of trees is occurring around the world due to a plethora of culprits, including wildfires, logging and clearing development. More than 18 million acres of forest are lost every year, according to the Ecological Society of America, and the forests that remain are often weakened by severe drought and disease. All of these things are exacerbated as the earth warms.
One method some scientists are confident will help vegetation survive the inevitable heat of the future is assisted migration, which involves planting a species of tree that is native to the area but sourcing the seed from farther south, where the temperature is warmer. Theoretically, this would ensure that the forest will endure, because that variation has already adapted to warmer temperatures.
But new research has shown that populations of some species of warm-adapted plants are actually decreasing in their native habitats — and if a plant population is dwindling, its seedlings may not be available to be migrated. A study published in Nature on Monday found that alpine plants in the European Alps are among the many plant and animal species responding to recent global warming, and climate change could be leading to the reduction of plants within each species that has adapted to warmer weather.
“These individuals that are adapted to warmer climatic conditions may get lost in the future climate change,” Johannes Wessely, author of the study and a researcher in the University of Vienna’s department of botany and biodiversity research, told ABC News.
The model developed by the researchers, which considered variations in the climate tolerance of six species of alpine plants, suggests that the ranges and populations of these plants will shrink as the climate warms, because the area in which it can survive will occupy smaller plots at higher elevations. This will then lead to less warm-adapted vegetation, and possibly the extinction of the species due to maladaptation and less vegetation overall, Wessely said.
The survivability of the species will depend on the rate of climate change, Wessely added.
“This pattern gets stronger, the stronger climate changes,” he said.
More research needs to be done to determine whether warming temperatures will have the similar effect on other plant species, Wessely said. If so, it could alter how effective assisted migration will be in fortifying vegetation against climate change.
Maladaptation is one of the main concerns scientists have when considering assisted migration, making sure to take extreme care when moving species outside of their normal zone, Owen Burney, the director of the John T. Harrington Forestry Research Center at New Mexico State University, told ABC News.
“There’s always a risk in doing that,” he said, but he emphasized that genetic research completed so far proves the method can be beneficial, for example, in providing some resilience to drought within a local population.
Scenarios that could possibly work include moving a variation of a Mexican pine species from Mexico to the southeastern U.S., where it does not exist, or moving a species from a lower to higher elevation. But ample testing will be necessary to make that determination, it can be tough to find investors for forestry, Burney said.
Forests are critical to the Earth’s ecology for their ability to capture and store carbon out of the atmosphere, alter the air quality and quantity of drinking water and provide habitat for the world’s land species.
Last year, the United Nations Environment Programme declared that promoting and preserving biodiversity — especially reforestation — would play a crucial role in combating climate change.
The growth and productivity of forests is both directly and indirectly affected by climate change, according to the Ecological Society of America. Changes in the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere affect forests directly, while the effect on the complex ecosystems as a result of climate change affects the forests indirectly.
Paul Bersebach/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — As the omicron variant causes a surge in coronavirus cases, many long-term care facilities are facing challenges not seen in months, officials from around the country tell ABC News.
Many nursing homes are struggling with low booster rates and a growing staffing crisis, said industry executives and health care advocates.
“Nursing homes are on high alert right now,” said Terry Fulmer, president of the John A. Hartford Foundation, a nonprofit that works to improve care for older adults. “Omicron is highly transmissible and is spreading through communities like wildfire.”
In the week ending Jan. 2, nursing homes and long-term care facilities reported close to 15,000 cases across the country, three times the infection rate from just a month ago when facilities were reporting under 5,000 cases, data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows.
Cases among staff members have shot up at an even higher rate, with facilities reporting upwards of 34,000 cases in the week ending on Jan. 2, compared to just over 5,600 a month ago.
In Sussex County, New Jersey, the National Guard was deployed last week to assist nursing home staff with infection control protocols and other duties as multiple facilities saw COVID-19 outbreaks.
“The staff at these facilities have been particularly hard hit by the latest COVID variant,” County Commissioner Anthony Fasano said in a statement. “We believed it was prudent to get them the help they needed before there was a crisis.”
In California, after more than 5,000 new cases were reported in skilled nursing facilities, the state’s public health officer, Tomas Aragon, announced that boosters will be mandatory for health care works and that visitors will require additional testing.
According to the CDC data, the recent spread of the virus among long-term care residents is occurring primarily among unvaccinated and twice-vaccinated residents, while the infection rate remains low for residents that have received a booster shot.
For most adults, two doses of currently authorized COVID-19 vaccines dramatically reduce the risk of being hospitalized or dying of the virus. But elderly adults, whose immune defenses fade with age, may still be at higher risk of serious illness from COVID-19, especially if it’s been more than five months since their last shot.
As of Jan. 2, more than 87% of residents at nursing homes nationwide had received two shots, and nearly 62% had been boosted, according to the CDC data.
For industry advocates, increasing the number of residents and staff getting boosters is a priority.
“We have been urging long-term care providers to get ready and to get ahead of the surge by ramping up their booster efforts,” said Cristina Crawford, a spokesperson for the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living.
Hartford told ABC News that she’s especially concerned that the rate of booster shots among staff is lagging behind.
“We have to increase our efforts to get boosters into the arms of both residents and staff,” she said.
In Ohio, where around 40% of nursing home staffers remain unvaccinated and the 21-day case average is above 14,000, omicron has “exacerbated” the growing staffing crisis, said Pete Van Runkle, executive director of the Ohio Health Care Association.
“Cases in long-term care in Ohio are about four times as many with omicron as during the height of delta,” Runkle told ABC News.
“The biggest problem with the incredibly high transmissibility is staff missing time from work,” he said.
The good news, said Runkle, is that despite the rising number of cases, nursing homes are reporting “very few” COVID-related deaths compared to last winter’s surge.
Across the country, death rates among long-term care residents and staff have remained flat throughout the spread of omicron. Nationally, facilities have reported 405 deaths among residents in the week ending Jan. 2, compared to 485 deaths in the week ending Dec. 5, according to data released by the CDC.
Pennsylvania state Health Care Association CEO Zach Shamberg said the good numbers are the result of a multi-pronged approach.
“This is a complete 180 from what we have seen last year and is a credit to providers and front-line workers who are doing everything they can to mitigate the spread of the virus now that they better understand the virus, have PPE and tests, and most importantly, access to a vaccine and boosters that help provide an additional level of protection for residents and workers,” Shamberg said.
Brittany Murray/MediaNews Group/Long Beach Press-Telegram via Getty Images
(LOS ANGELES) — A funeral service was held on Monday for a 14-year-old girl who was killed during a Los Angeles police-involved shooting at a clothing store.
Valentina Orellana-Peralta was Christmas shopping with her mother at a North Hollywood Burlington Coat Factory store on Dec. 23, 2021, when police responded to multiple 911 calls reporting a suspect who was allegedly assaulting customers.
The 911 dispatch audio, surveillance video and body camera footage released by the LAPD show the graphic video of 24-year-old suspect, Daniel Elena Lopez, attacking female shoppers inside the store. Video evidence showed one woman being beaten while other customers were seen evacuating. Upon arrival, police opened fire on Lopez and he was later pronounced dead at the scene.
According to a video statement released by the LAPD, it is believed Orellana-Peralta was struck by a stray bullet, which skipped off the floor and entered though the wall of the dressing room she was in.
“We at the LAPD would like to express our most heartfelt condolences and profound regret for the loss of this innocent victim, Valentina Oriana Peralta. there are no words that can describe the depth of the sorrow we feel for this tragic outcome,” Stacy Spell, commanding officer of the Media Relations Division of the LAPD, said in a video statement.
At the funeral, mourners gather to honor Orellana-Peralta’s life. The young teen came to the United States with her mother just six months before her death. Her parents told reporters she had dreams of becoming an American citizen and a robotics engineer.
“We pray for peace and justice for this innocent blood spilled,” said Benjamin Crump, who is the attorney representing the slain 14-year-old girl’s family.
Al Sharpton delivered the eulogy at the funeral service, calling out the LAPD’s long history of injustice against people of color.
“Thirty-one years ago, I came to Los Angeles because the LAPD beat a man on the highway. His name was Rodney King,” said Sharpton. “And here we are again. How long will it take for you to get it right,” Sharpton said, calling for police reform and demanding a full investigation of the fatal shooting incident.
The LAPD and the California Department of Justice are conducting their own separate investigations into the shooting incident.
The officer who open fire has been placed on administrative leave until the police department reaches a conclusion in its investigation.
(NEW YORK) — An open door to an apartment unit where a space heater caught fire allowed the smoke to spread throughout all floors of a 19-story building in New York City on Sunday, Mayor Eric Adams told ABC News.
At least 17 people, including eight children, have died from the incident. More than 60 others were injured, according to the New York City Fire Department.
The city passed a law in 2018 mandating self-closing doors in all apartment buildings. It’s unclear whether those were installed at 333 East 181st St., located in the Tremont section of the Bronx. The high-rise was built as affordable housing in 1972 and has 120 units, according to city records.
“It appears the ability to have the smoke spread is due to the door being open,” Adams told ABC News in an interview Monday on Good Morning America. “There may have been a maintenance issue with this door and that is going to be part of the ongoing investigation.”
So far, investigators believe the building met all other standards for fire safety. There were a couple violations documented over the last few years but no outstanding issues, according to the mayor.
“This is all going to come out during the investigation,” he added. “This is really early in the investigation.”
The flames ignited Sunday morning before 11 a.m. ET, due to a malfunctioning electric space heater in a bedroom of a duplex apartment on the third floor. In less than three hours, smoke enveloped all 19 floors. The building’s smoke alarms were operable at the time of the blaze, according to the New York City Fire Department.
More than 200 firefighters rushed to the scene of the five-alarm fire, smashing windows to rescue trapped residents. The mayor described the incident as “horrific” but praised the firefighters as heroes.
“Many of them, of their oxygen tanks were on empty,” Adams told ABC News. “But instead of turning back and exiting the building, they pushed through, through the smoke.”
Many of the injured were located on the upper floors and likely suffered from severe smoke inhalation. Approximately 13 people are in Bronx hospitals with life-threatening injuries, according to the New York City Fire Department.
The New York City Fire Department previously reported that 19 people, including nine children, had died from the blaze, but the death toll was revised Monday due to a miscount.
All residents in need of a place to stay have been provided temporary shelter. They will later be moved into permanent housing as the building undergoes repairs, according to Adams.
“One thing about New York City, unfortunately, is that we are capable of dealing with crises,” he said. “We’ve dealt with so many of large proportion and we immediately kick in gear our coordinated efforts.”
The ongoing investigation into the deadly inferno is being led by the New York City Fire Department’s marshals.
The Bronx Park Phase III Preservation LLC, the name of the joint venture that owns the building, said in a statement Sunday that it was “devastated” over the tragedy.
“We are devastated by the unimaginable loss of life caused by this profound tragedy,” the statement read. “We are cooperating fully with the Fire Department and other city agencies as they investigate its cause, and we are doing all we can to assist our residents. Our thoughts are with the families and friends of those who lost their lives or were injured, and we are here to support them as we recover from this horrific fire.”
Sunday’s blaze was the deadliest to occur in New York City in three decades. A total of 73 people died in fires citywide in all of 2021.
ABC News’ Joshua Hoyos, Julia Jacobo, Aaron Katersky and Ileana Riveros contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.4 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 838,000 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.
Latest headlines:
-ICU, ventilator patients on the rise in New Jersey
-US hospitalizations reach record high
-Some immune-compromised Americans eligible for 4th dose this week
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Jan 10, 5:48 pm
Record-breaking 580,000 new pediatric COVID-19 cases reported in US
Amidst the nation’s most significant COVID-19 infection surge yet, new data released on Monday shows that more than half a million children tested positive for COVID-19, last week, according to a weekly report from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association.
Last week alone, 580,000 children tested positive for COVID-19, marking a nearly three times more than two weeks prior, according to the organizations.
A total of 8.47 million children have tested positive for the virus since the onset of the pandemic, and nearly 11% of these children have tested positive in the past two weeks alone.
Children accounted for about 17.3% of the reported weekly COVID-19 cases last week, down again from previous weeks, when children accounted for more than a quarter of all new cases. For context, children under 18 make up 22.2% of the U.S. population.
Still, recent COVID-19 data could be skewed due to erratic and volatile reporting following the holidays. An artificial increase in the numbers could have resulted as more Americans get tested.
ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Jan 10, 4:44 pm
Harris County raises COVID threat level
In Harris County, Texas, which encompasses Houston, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo has raised the COVID-19 threat level to “red” — the highest level — due to an uptick in hospitalizations.
COVID-19 patients occupy 18% of all ICU beds in the county.
ABC News’ Matt Fuhrman
Jan 10, 4:29 pm
8 at-home tests per month soon covered by insurance
The Biden administration is moving forward on a rule to make at-home rapid tests reimbursable for insured Americans.
Beginning Jan. 15, Americans will get up to eight tests covered per month, as well as an unlimited number of tests covered if ordered or administered by a doctor or nurse.
“Insurance companies and health plans are required to cover 8 free over-the-counter at-home tests per covered individual per month. That means a family of four, all on the same plan, would be able to get up to 32 of these tests covered by their health plan per month. There is no limit on the number of tests, including at-home tests that are covered if ordered or administered by a health care provider following an individualized clinical assessment, including for those who may need them due to underlying medical conditions,” the Department of Health and Human Services said in a press release.
ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Jan 10, 3:54 pm
Republicans vow to block DC’s vaccine mandate
In Washington, D.C., a vaccine mandate for restaurants, nightclubs, bars and indoor venues is set to begin on Jan. 15.
But 19 House Republicans sent a letter to Mayor Muriel Bowser on Monday saying that the mandate “will not prevent the virus from spreading.”
“This sweeping mandate, however, will harm the District’s economic recovery and lock many Americans out of their capital city,” the Republicans wrote, adding, “We urge you to withdraw the Order.”
The city is seeing some improvement in COVID-19 case numbers, D.C. Health’s senior deputy director, Patrick Ashley, told reporters on Monday.
“We’re very hopeful based on that data that we are getting to a better spot,” Ashley said. “It’s still certainly high. It’s still an area for concern and we don’t expect that to go down overnight.”
