COVID updates: Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin tests positive

He said he has mild symptoms and will be quarantining for five days.

COVID updates: Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin tests positive
Alex Brandon/AP
ByMary Kekatos, Ivan Pereira, Emily Shapiro, Kiara Alfonseca, and Meredith Deliso
Last Updated: January 3, 2022, 12:42 AM EST

As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.4 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 825,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

About 62% 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:

Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Dec 28, 2021, 3:04 PM EST

US cases, hospitalizations, deaths expected to rise

Forecast models used by the CDC suggest cases, hospitalizations and deaths will rise over the next four weeks.

According to the models, the U.S. death toll could reach 862,900 by Jan. 22.

More than 670,000 white flags cover 20 acres of the National Mall in an art memorial for Covid-19 victims by Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg, Sept. 21, 2021.
Allison Bailey/NurPhoto via AP, FILE

Nationally, estimates suggest between 8,700 and 20,800 Americans could be admitted to the hospital each day by Jan. 10.

These forecasts are from the COVID-19 Forecast Hub at UMass Amherst, where a team monitors and combines forecasting models from the nation’s top researchers. The team then creates an ensemble -- displayed like a hurricane forecast spaghetti plot -- usually with a wide cone of uncertainty.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos, Brian Hartman

Dec 28, 2021, 2:42 PM EST

Hugh Jackman tests positive, The Music Man cancels performances

Hugh Jackman, who has been starring in The Music Man on Broadway, tweeted that he tested positive for COVID-19 Tuesday morning.

"My symptoms are like a cold -- I have a scratchy throat and a bit of a runny nose," Jackman said in an Instagram video. "But I'm fine and I'm just going to do everything I can to get better ASAP. And as soon as I'm cleared, I'll be back on stage."

The Music Man tweeted that all performances are canceled through Jan. 1 and that Jackman will be back in the show on Jan. 6.

Dec 28, 2021, 1:57 PM EST

New record highs in UK, France, Italy

The United Kingdom, France and Italy have all set new record highs for daily COVID-19 cases.

People wearing protective face masks are pictured on a rainy winter day in the Montorgueil street, amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Paris, Dec. 27, 2021.
Christian Hartmann/Reuters

The U.K. recorded a record 129,471 cases in the last 24 hours, according to government data. That brings the total cases in the last week to 802,137-- a 30.3% rise from the previous week.

France recorded a record 179,807 new daily cases, according to the national public health agency Santé Publique France. This could in part be because of a lag in reporting over the Christmas weekend (an unlikely low of 30,383 cases was reported on Monday).

Italy saw a record 78,313 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours. Italy also saw just 30,810 new cases on Monday following the holiday.

-ABC News' Ibtissem Guenfoud

Dec 28, 2021, 1:22 PM EST

5 states seeing more cases than any other point in pandemic

The U.S. is averaging more than 206,000 new COVID-19 cases each day -- a roughly 147% jump in the last month, according to federal data.

Five states -- Florida, New Jersey, New York, Delaware and Massachusetts -- are reporting more new cases than at any other point in the pandemic, according to federal data.

Florida, Georgia and Washington, D.C., have seen their case averages triple, while Louisiana, Hawaii, Maryland, New Jersey and New York City have seen their case averages double.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos

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