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 31, 2021, 12:40 PM EST

Texas governor requests federal COVID-19 aid

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has requested resources for federally-supported COVID-19 testing locations, medical personnel, as well as additional federal allocations of monoclonal antibodies.

"Detecting COVID-19 and preventing COVID-related hospitalizations are critical to our fight against this virus," Abbott said in a press release Friday.

Texas has seen more than 104,000 confirmed COVID cases in the past week, with a 22.30% testing positivity rate, according to Johns Hopkins University's Coronaivrus Research Center. The center also reports that the state has a 58.45% vaccination rate.

Dec 31, 2021, 10:47 AM EST

US breaks weekly COVID-19 case record

The United States has recorded 2.2 million confirmed COVID-19 cases over the last week, setting a grim record as the highest number of cases confirmed in one week.

The previous record was set just a few days earlier from Dec. 22 to Dec. 29, when the U.S. confirmed 1.9 million COVID-19 cases. Before that, the previous record totaled 1.75 million cases from Jan. 5 to Jan. 11 at the start of 2021.

Dec 31, 2021, 8:26 AM EST

Some NJ schools go remote as cases surge

At least 10 of the 13 school districts in Hudson County, New Jersey are switching back to remote learning next week as the daily total of confirmed COVID-19 cases skyrocket in the state.

Bayonne, Jersey City, Harrison, Union City, West New York, Weehawken, Guttenberg, Hoboken, East Newark and North Bergen will go remote until Jan. 7 at the earliest.

On Thursday, New Jersey reported a record number of 27,975 positive daily tests. The previous record was 20,483, which was confirmed just one day earlier.

Dec 30, 2021, 11:04 PM EST

FDA to authorize boosters for 12- to 15-year-olds

The Food and Drug Administration is likely to authorize Pfizer COVID-19 booster shots for 12- to 15-year-olds next week, a source with direct knowledge of the plan told ABC News.

An authorization may come as early as Monday.

-ABC News' Eric Strauss

Related Topics