Handout/New Zealand Defense Force via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — For the first time since a massive undersea volcano erupted and caused widespread damage, the government of Tonga released its first statement on Tuesday morning, describing a huge mushroom plume that covered the entire South Pacific island kingdom and nearly 50-foot tsunami waves that crashed ashore and devastated villages.
International and domestic communication, including the Internet, had been severed since the blast of the Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha’apai volcano on Saturday. According to the government’s statement, the volcanic eruption damaged an underwater fiber optic cable, cutting off communication to the outside world.
“As a result of the eruption, a volcanic mushroom plume was released reaching the stratosphere and extending radially covering all Tonga Islands, generating tsunami waves rising up to 15 meters, hitting the west coast of Tongatapu Islands, ‘Eue and Ha’apai Islands,” the government statement said.
The eruption occurred in the South Pacific, about 40 miles south of Tonga.
A damage assessment was underway on Tuesday and the government was relying on satellite phones and high-frequency radio to establish communication between the multiple islands that comprise the Polynesian kingdom. Government officials said communication with at least one island, Niuas, had yet to be restored.
At least three deaths have been confirmed, including the death of a British national, the government said. Also killed was a 65-year-old woman on Mango Island and a 49-year-old man from Nomuka Island, according to the statement.
Two people remain unaccounted for and numerous injuries have been reported, the government said.
The government said it is particularly concerned about the damage caused to the islands of Mango, Fonoifua and Nomuka after receiving initial reports from first responders deployed to those islands.
“The first consignment is headed for these islands as all houses were destroyed on Mango Island; only two houses remain on Fonoifua Island with extensive damage on Nomuka Island,” the government said.
It was not immediately clear how many houses and people occupied the islands of Mango, Nomuka and Fonoifua. Many of Tonga’s 170 islands are uninhabited or sparsely inhabited.
At least eight houses were completely destroyed and 20 others were severely damaged in the village of Kolomotu on Tonga’s most populated island, Tongatapu, the government said.
On ‘Eua Island, two houses were completely destroyed and 45 were severely damaged, according to the government.
The government said that evacuations are underway from the small island of ‘Atata near the capital city of Nukuʻalofa, throughout Tongatapu, Mango, Fonoifua and Nomuka islands.
“Water supplies have been seriously affected by the volcanic ash,” the government statement said. “Government efforts have to be made to ensure the continuity of the supply of drinking water.”
Sea and air transportation have also been affected due to continuing large waves and volcanic ash covering airport runways.
“Domestic and international flights have been deferred until further notice as the airports undergo clean-up,” the government said.
The volcanic eruption was so strong it caused a sonic boom that could be heard and felt more than 6,000 miles away in Alaska, officials said.
The blast also triggered tsunami warnings from Fiji to Hawaii and the California coast.
The large waves caused by the volcanic eruption were being blamed for an oil spill off the Peruvian coast roughly 6,600 miles from Tonga. The Peruvian Civil Defense Institute released a statement on Monday saying a ship was loading oil into La Pampilla refinery on the Pacific coast of Puru on Sunday when waves moved the vessel and caused the spill.
(WASHINGTON) — The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack on Tuesday subpoenaed Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Elllis, who were among those who pushed claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election and for GOP officials to disrupt the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory.
The committee, which is seeking records and testimony from the witnesses in early February, also subpoenaed Trump aide Boris Epshteyn and lawyer Sidney Powell.
To date, the committee has issued nearly 60 public subpoenas for records and testimony.
Bob Saget‘s longtime friend, fellow comedian and “Roastmaster General” Jeff Ross is dishing on the beloved comedian and Full House patriarch’s funeral.
To Page Six, Ross emailed details about last weekend’s send-off for Saget, who was found dead in his Florida hotel room on January 9. He was 65.
Calling it the “best funeral ever,” Ross explained of last Friday’s service, “The crowd was star-studded, just the way Bob would have wanted.” Guests reportedly included fellow comedians like Dave Chappelle, Billy Crystal and Jimmy Kimmel. The publication noted that Ross also acted as pallbearer, along with others including Jonathan Silverman, John Mayer, and Saget’s Full House co-stars Dave Coulier and John Stamos, as well as Netflix head Ted Sarandos.
Ross also said, “The next night, we threw him an impromptu rock and roll shiva in the small room above The Comedy Store in Hollywood, where Bob started his career as a teenager.”
An “overwhelmed and so heartbroken” Ross closed by saying, “There will be other tributes, but I wanted the comedy fans to know that although Bob’s giant heart may have stopped while he was alone on the road, he still went out with a giant bang.”
Last week, Ross and Mayer Instagrammed their “rescue” of Saget’s car from a parking lot at Los Angeles International Airport, explaining that doing so was what Bob would have done for anybody. “[I]f you need a doctor, if you need a lawyer, if you need a pastrami sandwich at 3 in the morning because some girl just broke your heart, Bob was that guy,” he noted.
Friends for years with Saget, Ross emceed the Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget, which initially aired in 2008, but which the network recently re-ran in his honor.
It’s been a week of joy and pain for Tiffany Haddish. On Friday, she was arrested for DUI, and on Tuesday, she was nominated for the NAACP Image Awards Entertainer of the Year. This follows breaking up with her boyfriend Common in December. Now, the Emmy and Grammy winner jokes that she will formally assess potential boyfriends like they were applying for a job.
“I’m going to drop applications next week and I’m going to hold my interviews. I’m gonna go through the applications, right? Then I’m gonna hold interviews on Instagram Live,” Haddish tells Entertainment Tonight.
“I’m gonna go live,” she continues. “I’m gonna interview them in front of everybody, you know, let their girlfriends, ex-girlfriends, whatever, say what they gonna say.”
In other news, Shaquille O’Neal is bringing his All Star Comedy Jam to LA to kick off Super Bowl weekend.
“From delivering numerous sold-out tours to being among the first to give a national stage to current comedy legends such as Mike Epps, DeRay Davis and Kevin Hart, All Star Comedy Jam has been a fixture on the comedy scene, dedicated to elevating the brightest up-and-coming comedic voices,” Shaq said in a statement.
Davis will host the show on Thursday, February 10, at the Microsoft Theater in LA. The event also will feature Bill Bellamy, Mo’Nique, Earthquake and Michael Blackson. The next day, O’Neal will host his annual Shaq’s Fun House Super Bowl Party at the Shrine in LA, featuring a performance by Lil Wayne.
Finally, Netflix announced Tuesday that Tyler Perry’s A Madea Homecoming will premiere on February 25. The comedy revolves around Madea’s great-grandson’s college graduation, as hidden secrets and family drama threaten to destroy the happy homecoming.
(WASHINGTON) — For the first time this Congress, the Senate started debating voting rights legislation on Tuesday, a day after Democrats failed to meet their hopeful, symbolic, deadline to pass an election reform bill by Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer opened debate on the House-passed voting rights bill, a combination bill wrapping in both the Freedom to Vote Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, on Tuesday afternoon.
But Democrats need 60 votes, or the support of 10 Republican senators — which they don’t have — plus all 50 of their own, to overcome a GOP filibuster on the legislation and end debate, making way for the bill’s final passage. All 50 Senate Republicans are opposed to the bill.
“The American people deserve to see their senators go on record on whether they will support these bills or oppose them. Indeed, that may be the only way to make progress on this issue,” Schumer said on Tuesday. “And if Republicans choose to continue to filibuster voting rights legislation, we must consider and vote on rule changes that are appropriate and necessary to restore the Senate and make voting legislation possible.”
The bill at hand would make Election Day a federal holiday, expand early voting and mail-in-voting, and give the federal government greater oversight over state elections. And would come at a time when nearly 20 states have restricted access to voting fueled by false claims in the wake of the 2020 election, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.
Quoting the late civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Schumer acknowledged that Democrats have “an uphill struggle” to pass voting rights legislation but said they should “keep moving, keep fighting” in the face of the inevitable defeat this week.
“Win, lose, or draw — members of this chamber were elected to debate and to vote, especially on an issue this vital to the beating heart of our democracy as voting rights. And the public — the public is entitled to know where each senator stands on an issue so sacrosanct as defending our democracy.”
He also seized the spotlight to slam Republicans for continuing to block Democrats from passing the legislation last year, and addressing the American people from the Senate floor, said the GOP has “regressed.”
“The Republican Party used to be one that supported voting rights. Presidents Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush worked to renew voting rights bills,” Schumer said. “Now, sadly, unfortunately, this is Donald Trump’s Republican Party.”
McConnell, on Tuesday, speaking first for Republicans, slammed his colleagues across the aisle for characterizing the Senate filibuster as a “Jim Crow relic” while, Democrats argue, the procedural tactic is being weaponized by Republicans to prevent federal voting protections largely to minorities.
“This is about one party wanting the power to unilaterally rewrite the rulebook of American elections,” McConnell said.
“Democrats have been pushing the same policy changes in the same Chicken Little rhetoric since 2019,” he added. “The Democratic leader’s effort to break the Senate long predates the latest pretext.”
“Too many of our colleagues across the aisle still want to respond to a 50-50 Senate with a rule-breaking power grab. Those voting to break this institution will not be a free vote or a harmless action, even if efforts fail,” McConnell continued. “An unprincipled attempt at grabbing power is not harmless just because it fails. Voting to break the Senate is not cost-free, just because of a bipartisan majority of your colleagues have the wisdom to stop you.”
To go it alone, Schumer said he will move to challenge the chamber’s filibuster rule with a simple majority vote, and aides say that rules-change proposal will come as early as Wednesday. Schumer on Tuesday also filed cloture on the bill, setting up the 60-vote threshold filibuster vote for later this week.
It’s still unclear exactly how Democrats intend to change the filibuster rule. Schumer didn’t lay out specifics Tuesday on what his plans are on possible changes to the filibuster when Republicans block the voting rights bill as they’re expected to do.
Senate Democrats are scheduled to meet Tuesday evening ahead of an expected vote Wednesday to try to change the filibuster rule.
Sen Tim Kaine, D-Va., a key negotiator in voting rights talks., told ABC News last week that it will likely amount to a one-time change to the rule, or carveout, by lowering the threshold to end debate on the legislation from 60 votes to 51 votes. In theory, Vice President Kamala Harris, as president of the Senate, could serve as Democrats’ tie-breaking vote — both to quash the filibuster and, eventually, pass the voting rights bill.
Another option Democrats have looked into is reverting back to a talking filibuster, which would require 41 opponents of the bill to keep talking on the floor — called “holding the floor” — to test the opposition’s stamina. If they run out of steam, there would be a 51-vote requirement for passage of the once-filibustered bill.
But Democrats need the support of their entire party to change the rule in the chamber where they hold the slimmest of majorities. And conservative Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema have made clear their opposition to changing the filibuster, even though both support the underlying legislation, so the effort is expected to fail — a massive blow to Democrats as President Joe Biden approaches one year in office on Thursday.
Martin Luther King Jr.’s 13-year-old granddaughter, Yolanda Renee King, called out Manchin and Sinema by name in demonstrations near Capitol Hill on Monday as activists took the street to demand action in the name of the late civil rights leader being honored across the nation.
“Sen. Sinema, Sen. Manchin, our future hinges on your decision, and history will remember what choice you make,” she called out. “So join me in demanding action for today, tomorrow and generations to come.”
After Biden took the national spotlight last Tuesday in Georgia to demand the Senate change its rules “whichever way they need to be changed to prevent a minority of senators from blocking actions on voting rights,” he met with Sinema and Manchin privately at the White House. As he headed to the Hill last Thursday to meet with lawmakers, Sinema stunningly took to the Senate floor and reiterated her opposition to what the president had just publicly called for.
Republicans, meanwhile, have argued Biden went too far in his attacks on the GOP, tying their obstruction on the bill to Jim Crow-era racism, with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell slamming Biden’s speech from the Senate chamber as “profoundly, profoundly un-presidential” and as a “rant” that was “incoherent, incorrect and beneath his office.”
As activists continue to push for federal action, Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said over the weekend he was never contacted by the White House to try and gain support for passing voting rights legislation.
“Sadly, this election reform bill that the president has been pushing, I never got a call on that from the White House. There was no negotiation, bringing the Republicans and Democrats together to try to come up with something that would meet bipartisan interest,” he told NBC’s “Meet The Press” Sunday.
With the Senate finally taking up voting rights Tuesday, the president is scheduled to remain out of sight, according to his schedule, but at the White House for briefings.
Biden is scheduled to hold a news conference on Wednesday, one day before marking his first year in office, where he’ll likely face questions on the issue of voting rights — among other unfinished agenda items.
And while his character Steven Grant suffers from what used to be known as split personality disorder, some on the Internet snarked at one of those personalities — specifically Isaac’s British accent as Grant.
“Oscar Isaac’s accent in the #MoonKnight trailer is literally like ‘ello guvna wot are ya dewin?!” one Twitter user jabbed. Another offered, “Oscar Isaac’s Dick Van Dyke-esque British accent is singlehandedly going to make this immensely watchable, isn’t it?”
That said, Oscar had his defenders, too. “Nah I love it lmao,” said one, offering a possible explanation: “It totally works with how one of his identities, Steven Grant, thinks a British accent sounds.”
“I think, if anything, it’s almost too good,” said another Twitter user. “It’s a legit sounding accent – it just sounds like it couldn’t come out of Oscar Isaac.”
Hear it for yourself when Moon Knight, which also stars another Oscar nominee, Ethan Hawke, playing a cult leader, debuts March 30.
Creed‘s Scott Stapp, Puddle of Mudd and Sugar Ray are headlining the inaugural Honeymoon Rock Fest, taking place March 18-20 in Oklahoma City.
As its name suggests, the Honeymoon Rock Fest comes with a twist: Along with the rocking, you’ll actually be able to get married between sets, with select musicians on the lineup officiating, along with an ordained minister to help with “paperwork and legalities.”
Other artists on the bill include Fuel, Saliva, Eve 6, Candlebox, Everclear, Powerman 5000 and Wheatus.
For the full lineup and ticket info — and, if you’re so inclined, to purchase a wedding package — visit HoneymoonFest.com.
Shawn Mendes started off 2022 telling fans “It’ll Be Okay,” and now, he’s telling them to get ready for another round of new music.
Taking to Instagram on Tuesday, the singer shared a video that shows him and a friend listening to a new demo. The clip then transitions to a studio, where fans can hear the fully mastered track ahead of its scheduled release.
Shawn just had one question to ask first, which was, “Y’all dig this?” Of course, his 66.2 million followers began begging for more and demanded to know when they can finally add it to their music libraries. At this time, it is currently unknown when the Grammy winner’s new song arrives or what he plans on calling it.
The song would mark Shawn’s third new single since releasing his Wonder album, which came out in December 2020. It follows “Summer of Love” and, most recently, “It’ll Be Okay.”
Shawn is gearing up for his 64-date Wonder: The World Tour, which kicks off in March and will take him across North America, Europe and the United Kingdom. He has yet to unveil plans for his fifth studio album, but fans are hopeful an announcement is on the horizon.
Aspiring artists hoping to make a big impression in this year’s Doodle for Google student art contest will be judged by none other than Selena Gomez. The 29-year-old singer announced Tuesday that she’ll help pick this year’s winner.
Selena said she is excited to serve as a judge because of the theme that Google selected for 2022. She wrote, “This year’s prompt, ‘I care for myself by…’ is especially meaningful to me. I can’t wait to learn how students across the country are approaching mental health and self-care.”
Google is a contributor of her mental health educational platform, Rare Impact Fund.
Selena also shared a video to accompany her big reveal in which she talks about what Google’s new prompt means to her. “Ive been on a journey learning the best ways to take care of myself. I know firsthand how scary and lonely it can feel to face the pressures of the world alone, especially at a young age,” the Grammy nominee remarked. “I love to channel my journey into my art and I can’t wait to see how students do the same.”
The annual Doodle for Google contest is open to students in kindergarten through 12th grade, and the winner’s prompt will be featured on Google’s home page. The contest is now open and entries can either be submitted online or through the mail. The deadline to enter is March 4 at 11:59 p.m. PT.
(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 851,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
About 62.9% 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 18, 4:03 pm
No ICU beds left in Oklahoma City: ‘We are struggling to keep up’
All intensive care units are full in Oklahoma City, where 117 patients are in emergency rooms waiting for an open bed, Dr. Julie Watson, chief medical Officer of INTEGRIS Health, said Tuesday.
Some patients have been waiting more than 24 hours for an available ICU bed, Watson said.
“Our emergency departments are overflowing. Our health care professionals are exhausted. We’ve been working nearly nonstop for over two years now,” Watson said at a news conference. “Omicron cases are rising faster than previous variants and we are struggling to keep up.”
“We aren’t able to care for patients the way we normally do,” she continued. “It feels, and sometimes even looks, like a war zone. … We have to care for patients in hallways, sometimes closets.”
Oklahoma City hospitals are also experiencing staffing shortages and supply chain shortages.
“Some days we don’t have syringes, or saline or chest tube setups,” she said.
-ABC News’ Katherine Carroll
Jan 18, 3:23 pm
Kansas to end contact tracing
Kansas will end its contact tracing program at the end January due to an overwhelming number of COVID-19 cases and a “diminished” willingness of people to take part, the state health department announced Tuesday.
“As we enter the third year of this pandemic, public health has to begin to adjust the level of response to help alleviate the strain on the Public Health system,” Janet Stanek, acting secretary of the state’s Department of Health and Environment, said in a statement. “The pandemic is far from over, but this step is a move toward managing COVID-19 as an endemic disease. The responsibility of protecting yourself and others belongs to all of us.”
-ABC News’ Will McDuffie
Jan 18, 2:50 pm
Stephen A. Smith opens up about illness: ‘I didn’t know if I was gonna make it’
ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith is opening up about his intense COVID-19 battle.
After Smith tested positive in December, he said he had a 103 degree fever every night.
“Woke up with chills and a pool of sweat. Headaches were massive. Coughing profusely,” Smith said, according to The New York Post.
Smith said he was admitted to the hospital over New Year’s with pneumonia in both lungs.
“They told me, had I not been vaccinated, I wouldn’t be here. That’s how bad it was,” he said.
Smith is now back to work, but he said, “two-and-a-half, three weeks ago, I didn’t know if I was gonna make it.”
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Disney is the parent company of ABC News and ESPN.
Jan 18, 2:05 pm
New York cases down 75% from early January
New York state, hit hard by the omicron surge over the holidays, is seeing COVID-19 cases down 75% from early January, state officials said.
New York reported 22,312 new cases Tuesday, according to state data. On Jan. 7, New York state recorded 90,132 daily cases.
The seven-day average of new cases is down 38.9% from the previous week and the seven-day average of hospital admissions dropped 13.6% from the previous week, according to state data.
“We hope to close the books on this winter surge soon,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said Tuesday.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Jan 18, 12:30 pm
Biden administration website to order free tests goes live
The Biden administration’s website to order four free at-home rapid tests per household is now live at covidtests.gov.
The tests won’t ship for another seven to 12 days.
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Jan 18, 11:45 am
Omicron accounts for 99.5% of new cases in US: CDC
Omicron is estimated to account for 99.5% of new cases in the U.S. as of Saturday, according to new forecast data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday.
In early-December, omicron was estimated to account for just 0.6% of all new cases. The delta variant now accounts for only 0.5% of new U.S. cases, forecasters estimate.
These percentages are calculated using modeling and should be considered estimates, not exact figures.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Jan 18, 10:42 am
COVID-19 patient at center of life support battle transferred from Minnesota to Texas
A Minnesota man severely ill with COVID-19 was transferred to a Texas hospital over the weekend, after his wife was granted a temporary restraining order against the Minnesota hospital where doctors informed her they would take him off a ventilator.
Scott Quiner, 55, of Buffalo, Minnesota, tested positive for COVID-19 in late October and was initially admitted to Waconia Hospital before being transferred to the intensive care unit at Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids on Nov. 6, according to a GoFundMe page in support of the Quiner family and an article by the StarTribune, which was first to report the story.
A court order, issued last Thursday and obtained by ABC News, prohibited Mercy Hospital from disconnecting the ventilator that had been supporting Scott Quiner for months while his wife, Anne Quiner, searched for a new facility to continue his care. An Anoka County judge granted the order after health care providers advised Anne Quiner that they “intend[ed] to take actions on Thursday, January 13, 2022, that [would] end [her] husband’s life.”
According to court documents, Anne Quiner told doctors that, as her husband’s health care proxy, she “vehemently disagree[d]” with these actions, and did not want her husband’s ventilator turned off.
Over the weekend, Scott Quiner was subsequently moved to a facility in Texas for treatment, according to the Quiner family’s attorney, Marjorie J. Holsten.
“A doctor evaluated him and determined that he was severely undernourished. Scott has been receiving much-needed nourishment and hydration and medications that were not given by Mercy,” Holsten told ABC News in a statement Monday. “He is being weaned off of the sedating drugs and has already been able to follow with his eyes movements the doctor made with his hands. He is making progress in the right direction, though he has a long road ahead of him and continued prayers are appreciated.”
Representatives for Allina Health, which operates Mercy Hospital, said they wish the patient and his family well and have “great confidence” in their team’s work.
“Allina Health has great confidence in the exceptional care provided to our patients, which is administered according to evidence-based practices by our talented and compassionate medical teams. Due to patient privacy, we cannot comment on care provided to specific patients,” the health system told ABC News in a statement Monday. “Allina Health continues to wish the patient and family well. Any information regarding the patient’s on-going care should be directed to his current medical provider.”
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Jan 18, 7:30 am
Hong Kong to cull 2,000 small animals after hamsters test positive
Some 2,000 hamsters and other small animals will be culled in Hong Kong amid fears over possible animal-to-human transmission of COVID-19, authorities announced Tuesday.
The move came after an employee at the Little Boss pet store in Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay shopping district tested positive for the highly contagious delta variant on Monday. Further testing revealed at least 11 hamsters in the shop, imported from the Netherlands, were also infected, according to authorities.
The store has been shuttered and its hamsters, rabbits and chinchillas will all be tested and euthanized. Anyone who visited the shop since Jan. 7 is being urged to get in touch with authorities. Although officials said there is no evidence animals can transmit the virus to humans, they are not ruling out the possibility.
As a precautionary measure, authorities said they will seize all hamsters in Hong Kong’s 34 licensed stores for testing before putting them down in a humane manner. Residents who purchased hamsters after Dec. 22 are being urged to hand them over to be tested and culled. The customers themselves will be subject to mandatory testing and quarantine.
Hong Kong will also cease the sale and import of small mammals, including hamsters. All shops selling hamsters in the city have been ordered to stop doing so immediately, according to authorities.
“We have assessed the risks of these batches are relatively high and therefore made the decision based on public health needs,” Dr. Leung Siu-fai, director of Hong Kong’s Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, told a press conference Tuesday. “We urge all pet owners to observe strict hygiene when handling their pets and cages. Do not kiss or abandon them on the streets.”
-ABC News’ Britt Clennett
Jan 17, 2:31 pm
Moderna working on combined COVID, flu booster
Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel told the Davos Agenda Monday that the company is working on a combined COVID-19 and flu booster shot, which could, in a “best case scenario,” be made available by fall 2023.
Bancel said the company’s goal is to be able to provide a single annual booster.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Jan 17, 2:16 pm
Fauci: Unclear whether omicron will lead world into an ‘endemic’ phase
Dr. Anthony Fauci said Monday it’s an “open question” as to whether the omicron variant will lead the globe into a new endemic phase of the pandemic.
“We were fortunate that omicron, although it is highly transmissible, nonetheless, is not as pathogenic but the sheer volume of people who are getting infected overrides that rather less level of pathogenicity,” Fauci said at the Davos Agenda, a virtual event held by the World Economic Forum.
But Fauci said it’s still unclear if omicron’s reduced severity will translate to the virus gradually becoming less prevalent.
“I would hope that that’s the case. But that would only be the case if you don’t get another variant that alludes to the immune response to the prior variant,” Fauci said, adding that it is “very difficult” to calculate how the globe could reach herd immunity.
When the globe does enter an endemic phase, Fauci said there will be a “new normal.”
“It’s not going to be that you’re going to eliminate this disease completely. We’re not going to do that. But hopefully it will be at such a low level that it doesn’t disrupt our normal, social, economic and other interactions with each other,” Fauci said. “To me, that’s what the new normal is. I hope the new normal also includes a real strong corporate memory of what pandemics can do.”
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Jan 17, 11:40 am
Growing evidence suggests COVID surge may be receding in parts of US
Growing evidence suggests the omicron surge may be beginning to recede in the parts of the U.S. that were first hit by the variant.
Although new case rates remain high across much of the Northeast, daily totals are slowly beginning to fall. New York City reported a 17% drop and New Jersey reported a 17.6% drop in new cases over the last week. Washington, D.C., reported a nearly 25% decline and Vermont saw a nearly 22% decline in cases in the last week.
But health officials caution the latest surge has yet to peak for much of the U.S. The nation is still reporting nearly 800,000 new cases a day — a record high and a more than eight-fold increase compared to six weeks ago.
Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy told CNN on Sunday that Americans should not expect a decline in the days to come.
“This is a very difficult time during this surge. We are seeing high case numbers and hospitalization rates… we’re also seeing strain in many of our hospitals around the country,” Murthy said. “The next few weeks will be tough.”
Nearly 1,800 Americans are dying from COVID-19 each day – an approximately 52.6% jump since Jan. 1.
