COVID-19 live updates: City sees fourfold increase in pediatric hospitalizations

A new analysis from the UK Health Security Agency suggests the omicron COVID variant may cause less severe illness.

Preliminary data found a patient infected with omicron was 31% to 45% less likely to visit the emergency room compared to the delta variant and 50% to 70% less likely to be admitted to the hospital.

However, experts caution that it is still too soon to know for sure whether the variant causes mild or severe illness.

The UKHSA notes that the study is “preliminary and highly uncertain” due to the low numbers of omicron patients in the hospital.

The agency adds that because omicron appears to spread more easily, it could still lead to significant numbers of people needing hospital treatment over the next few weeks.

-ABC News’ Guy Davies

The United Kingdom recorded 119,789 COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, the highest number ever reported during the pandemic, according to official government data.

This brings the total number of infections over the past seven days to 678,165, which is an increase of 53.3% compared to last week.

It also marks the second consecutive day that cases of the virus have topped 100,000.

Deaths, comparatively, are not rising with the weekly total being 2.4% lower than the week before.

-ABC News’ Guy Davies

The U.S. government announced Thursday it is pausing shipment of two monoclonal antibody treatments because they are less effective against the omicron variant.

Eli Lilly’s and Regeneron’s treatments are not being sent to states after early data revealed they were not effective at preventing severe illness or hospitalization in patients infected with omicron.

The government will continue shipping sotrovimab, a monoclonal antibody treatment made by Vir Biotechnology and GlaxoSmithKline, which appears to combat the new variant.

In a statement, the Department of Health and Human Services said it is sending 55,000 doses of sotrovimab across the country and expects to distribute an additional 300,000 doses starting in January. 

Eli Lilly and Regeneron have said they are each developing updated versions of their monoclonal antibody treatments that will work against omicron. 

-ABC News’ Sony Salzman

An ABC News analysis of federal data finds that nearly 30,000 Americans have died of COVID-19 since Thanksgiving as the omicron variant spreads across the country.

The U.S. is currently averaging more than 1,200 deaths per day, an increase of 23.3% in the last month with death rates up across almost all age groups.

Nationwide, about 161,000 new COVID cases are being reported every day, up nearly 75% in the last month.

This marks the highest daily case average since Labor Day, and means the U.S. will likely surpass the daily peaks seen during the delta-fueled wave over the summer.

Fourteen states, including New York, New Jersey, Illinois and Wisconsin, are reporting their highest daily case numbers in about a year.

-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos