Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Dec 29, 2021, 9:39 AM EST
France sets new daily case record
France recorded more than 208,000 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, setting a new daily case record, Health Minister Olivier Véran said.
By that tally, "every second, two French people" have tested positive, Véran said.
-ABC News'Ibtissem Guenfoud
Dec 29, 2021, 8:57 AM EST
'Nutcracker' performances canceled in NYC
The New York City Ballet has canceled the rest of its performances of "The Nutcracker" due to COVID-19 cases, ABC New York station WABC reported.
"The Nutcracker" was set to run through Sunday.
Dec 29, 2021, 8:39 AM EST
Why CDC doesn't require testing at end of isolation: Director
The newly updated CDC guidelines don't require testing at the end of isolation because PCR tests can stay positive for up to 12 weeks, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told "Good Morning America" Wednesday.
"So we would have people in isolation for a very long time if we were relying on PCRs," Walensky said.
Walensky also addressed Tuesday's news from the FDA that, according to early data, rapid antigen tests may be less sensitive when it comes to the omicron variant.
"We do know that the most sensitive test you can do is a PCR test," Walensky said. "So if you have symptoms and you have a negative antigen test, we do ask you to go and get a PCR to make sure those symptoms are not attributable to COVID."
Walensky said rapid tests do work "quite well," especially in places where people are being tested regularly, like at schools.
"They may not work as well as they have for the delta variant," Walensky said, but "we still are encouraging their use."
Dec 29, 2021, 5:47 AM EST
Global COVID cases rose 11% last week, WHO says
New COVID-19 cases increased 11% last week over the week prior, The World Health Organization said on Tuesday.
Almost 5 million new infections were recorded in the week that ended Dec. 26, the agency said in its weekly epidemiological update. The rise followed a "gradual increase" since October, the agency said.
WHO officials said the risk from the omicron variant "remains very high."
The agency said early data from the United Kingdom, South Africa and Denmark suggested a reduced risk of hospitalization for those infected with omicron, but said "further data are needed to understand the clinical markers of severity including the use of oxygen, mechanical ventilation and death, and how severity may be impacted by vaccination and/or prior SARSCoV-2 infection."