Chicago Public Schools has been in talks with teachers over COVID-19 safety.
As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.4 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 837,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
About 62.5% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has tested positive for COVID-19 and "is experiencing symptoms," her office said in a statement Sunday.
She is recovering at home.
Ocasio-Cortez is fully vaccinated and received a booster shot in the fall, her office said, adding that the congresswoman encourages everyone to get boosted and follow guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker announced that Abbott Labs will provide Chicago public schools 350,000 COVID-19 tests amid the omicron surge and the impasse between the teacher's unions and the school district to return to classrooms.
"I am committed to seeing our kids and teachers safely in classrooms ASAP. I want to thank the CEO of Abbott, Robert Ford, who was committed to helping get kids back to school by providing rapid antigen tests, along with the team at SHIELD Illinois," Pritzker said in a statement Saturday.
"Together, they turned over every stone ... I appreciate their hard work, along with that of my staff who worked nonstop behind the scene to get this done," he said.
Chicago Public Schools canceled classes last week amid negotiations over remote learning and COVID-19 safety measures.
City leadership, including Mayor Lori Lightfoot, had asked teachers to continue in-classroom instruction, but 88% of the Chicago Teachers Union's leadership and 73% of its members voted last week in favor of remote education.
The state of New York has told 40 hospitals they must turn away nonessential, nonurgent elective surgeries for the next two weeks in response to low bed capacity. Most of the hospitals are located in upstate New York.
The determination was made after the hospital locations were added to the list of "high risk regions" by the state department of health due to 90% of beds being occupied according to the seven-day average.
"We will use every available tool to help ensure that hospitals can manage the COVID-19 winter surge," acting State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett said in a statement Saturday. "I want to remind New Yorkers that getting vaccinated and boosted remain the best way to protect against serious illness and hospitalization from COVID-19. Vaccination also protects our hospital system. We cannot return to the early months of the pandemic when hospitals were overwhelmed."
All of the hospitals in three regions -- Mohawk Valley, Finger Lakes and Central New York -- are included in those 40 facilities.
New York state recorded 90,132 COVID-19 cases and 154 deaths on Friday.
11,843 COVID-19 patients are currently hospitalized in the state. Of the hospitalized, 42% are cases where COVID was not included as one of the reasons for admission, the governor's office said.
"There is an answer to this winter surge and it's simple: the vaccine and the booster," Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement. "Our vaccination rate among children is still too low. Parents and guardians don't delay in getting your children vaccinated and boosted, if eligible."
As of Friday, data showed the omicron variant represented 94% of sequences uploaded by New York State between Dec. 24 and Jan. 6, according to the governor's office.
