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, 5:49 PM EST

CDC investigating 86 cruise ships for COVID-19 cases

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating 86 cruise ships operating or planning to operate in U.S. waters that have reported COVID-19 cases.

In order to meet the threshold for a CDC investigation, a ship must report COVID-19 cases in more than 0.10% of passengers or have a single crew member test positive in the previous seven days.

The CDC started by investigating 38 ships, and has now investigated 48 additional vessels, which remain "under observation."

None of the ships have been designated as "red," which means they haven't reached the level of COVID-19 transmission needed to overwhelm the medical resources on board.

-ABC News' Mina Kaji

Dec 28, 2021, 6:21 PM EST

Antigen tests have reduced sensitivity to omicron: FDA

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration revealed new data on the efficacy of antigen tests for detecting the omicron COVID-19 variant.

The data so far suggests the tests do detect the variant, but they may have reduced sensitivity, the agency said.

The FDA and National Institutes of Health will continue to review the antigen tests' performance on the variant.

Dec 28, 2021, 3:53 PM EST

UCLA pulls out of bowl game

UCLA said its football team has pulled out of Tuesday night's San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl due to COVID-19.

UCLA was set to play North Carolina State.

-ABC News' Matt Fuhrman

Dec 28, 2021, 3:22 PM EST

Greece sees record single-day increase 

Greece reported 21,657 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday -- a record 133% increase from the 9,284 new cases reported on Monday, according to government data. 

Eighty-five percent of COVID-19 patients in Greece's hospitals are not vaccinated.

-ABC News' Christine Theodorou

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