Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Dec 30, 2021, 4:19 PM EST
US hospitalizations doubled since early November: HHS
More than 90,000 Americans are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, which is double the number since November, according to a memo from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
On average, more than 9,400 Americans are being admitted to the hospital with COVID-19 every day, a 20% increase compared to the last week, HHS said.
The hospitalization numbers are still roughly three-quarters of the same period in 2020, the data showed.
-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos and Josh Margolin
Dec 30, 2021, 2:50 PM EST
South Africa may have passed 4th wave: Presidency
Mondli Gungubele, the South Africa's Minister in the Presidency, tweeted some promising updates on the country's current COVID-19 surge.
The country's health department saw a 29.7% decrease in the number of new cases detected in the week ending Dec. 25 compared to the previous week.
"All indicators suggest the country may have passed the peak of the fourth wave at a national level," the minister tweeted.
South Africa was one of the first nations to record the omicron COVID-19 variant and saw cases spike in late November.
Takalane Mulaudzi, 29, waits to get her COVID-19 vaccination at Soweto's Baragwanath hospital, Dec. 13, 2021.
Jerome Delay/AP
The health department said that while the omicron variant is highly transmissible, the country's hospitalization rates were lower than in previous waves.
South African officials announced they will lift several restrictions, including its curfew and crowd limits for indoor and outdoor activities.
-ABC News' Christine Theodorou
Dec 30, 2021, 2:13 PM EST
Avoid cruises regardless of vaccination status, CDC says
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned Americans to avoid cruises regardless of COVID vaccination status.
On Thursday, the CDC raised the health notice from a level 3 to a level 4, which is the highest level.
The "Seven Seas Mariner" cruise ship traveling from Florida passes through the Panama Canal after it was barred from docking by local authorities in Cartagena, Colombia, due to COVID-19 infections on board, near Panama City, Dec. 23, 2021.
Erick Marciscano/Reuters
"Since the identification of the omicron variant, there has been an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases among cruise passengers and crew reported to CDC," the agency wrote. "Additionally, there has been an increase in the number of cruise ships meeting the COVID-19 case threshold for CDC investigation."
More than 80 cruise ships are currently being investigated or observed by the CDC after reports of COVID outbreaks on board.
In response, the Cruise Lines International Association -- the largest cruise trade association -- called the CDC's new warning "particularly perplexing" and said cases on ships "consistently make up a very slim minority of the total population onboard."
ABC News' Alexandra Faul, Mina Kaji and Sam Sweeney
Dec 30, 2021, 1:02 PM EST
COVID vaccines are effective in kids, 3 CDC studies say
COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective in children, three new studies published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention find.
The first study, looking at the Pfizer vaccine in 42,000 kids aged 5 to 11 found that side effects from the shot were mostly mild and resolved within a week.
The second study, which examined data from 243 adolescents between ages 12 and 17, found the Pfizer vaccine was 92% effective at preventing COVID infection.
A child receives a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at an elementary school vaccination site in Miami, Nov. 22, 2021.
Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images, FILE
The final study found less than 1% of eligible children between ages 5 and 17 who were hospitalized with COVID in July and August were fully vaccinated.
"I think these studies taken as a whole confirm what we’ve been saying all along, which is that these vaccines are incredibly safe and effective," ABC News medical contributor Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children's Hospital, said.
