Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Jan 10, 2022, 12:41 PM EST
US hospitalizations reach record high
U.S. hospitalizations have reached a record high with more than 141,000 Americans now in hospitals with COVID-19, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services.
It's not clear how many of these patients were admitted to the hospital for COVID-19 and how many people tested positive for the virus after they were admitted for other reasons.
Paramedics and emergency medical technicians wait with patients in a hall of the emergency room at Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla in San Diego, Calif. on Jan. 3, 2022.
K.C. Alfred/San Diego Union-Tribune via ZUMA Wire
Medical staff treat a COVID-19 patient in their isolation room on the Intensive Care Unit at Western Reserve Hospital in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, on Jan. 4, 2022.
Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
About 25.3% of U.S. hospitals with available data are reporting critical staffing shortages.
In the last week, the U.S. has reported nearly 4.7 million new COVID-19 cases -- the highest weekly case number on record, according to federal data.
A person is swabbed at a COVID-19 testing site in Times Square in New York, on Jan. 9, 2022.
Chine Nouvelle via SIPA via Shutterstock
Roughly one in every 70 Americans tested positive for COVID-19 this week alone.
New York City holds the nation's highest case rate.
-ABC News'Arielle Mitropoulos
Jan 10, 2022, 10:25 AM EST
Some immune-compromised Americans eligible for 4th dose this week
Some immune-compromised Americans will be eligible for a fourth dose this week.
A pharmacist prepares a booster dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine during a vaccination clinic, Dec. 29, 2021, in Lawrence, Mass.
Charles Krupa/AP, FILE
A third dose for people with compromised immune systems was recommended by the CDC on Aug. 13. The CDC recently shortened the window of Pfizer and Moderna booster shots from six months to five months. This means immune-compromised people who got a third shot in mid-August will be eligible for a fourth dose in mid-January.
People with immune compromised conditions make up about 3% of the U.S. population.
Uganda reopened its schools to students on Monday after nearly two years, ending the world's longest school closure due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Schools across the East African nation of 44 million people have been fully or partially closed since March 2020, when the pandemic began. The closures affected more than 10 million learners, according to data from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Save the Children welcomed the reopening of Uganda's schools but warned that "lost learning may lead to high dropout rates in the coming weeks without urgent action."
Pupils wear face masks as they attend class at Kitante Primary School in Kampala, Uganda , Jan. 10, 2022. Uganda's schools reopened to students, ending the world's longest school disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hajarah Nalwadda/AP
The London-based charity revealed in a report last November that up to one in five children in low-income countries, including Uganda, had dropped out of school due to rising poverty, child marriage and child labor, which have been exacerbated by the pandemic. In a statement Monday, Save the Children warned of "a 'second wave' of dropouts as returning students who have fallen behind in their learning fear they have no chance of catching up."
To tackle the potential crisis in Uganda, Save the Children has launched "Catch-up Clubs," which assess children and teaches them at the required level to help them regain literacy and other learning, with child protection support and cash assistance for families struggling to send them to school.
"As schools begin to reopen across the country, it is critical that all girls and boys have access to the support they need to successfully return to the classroom," Edison Nsubuga, head of education at Save the Children in Uganda, said in a statement Monday. "Many children have fallen behind in school as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Children who are behind in their learning are less likely to unlock their potential as adults. However, when children receive the learning boost they need and have access to quality education, they can reach their full potential."
Jan 10, 2022, 6:37 AM EST
UK launches campaign urging pregnant women to get vaccinated, boosted
The United Kingdom has launched a new advertising campaign that urges pregnant women who have not yet received a COVID-19 vaccine or booster shot to do so as soon as possible.
Testimonies of pregnant women who have had the shots will be played out in ads across U.K. radio stations and on social media starting Monday. The new campaign urges pregnant women "don't wait to take the vaccine" and highlights the risks of COVID-19 to both mother and baby as well as the benefits of getting vaccinated, according to a press release from the U.K. Department of Health and Social Care.
A health worker administers a dose of a COVID-19 vaccine to a pregnant woman at a pop-up vaccination center at the Redbridge Town Hall in London, England, United Kingdom, on Dec. 25, 2021.
Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images
The press release cited the latest data from the U.K. Health Security Agency that suggests COVID-19 vaccination is safe for pregnant women and provides strong protection against the virus for both mother and baby. The press release also cited data from the U.K. Obstetric Surveillance System that shows more than 96% of pregnant women hospitalized with COVID-19 symptoms between May and October 2021 were unvaccinated, and a third of them required respiratory support. Around one in five women who are hospitalized with COVID-19 need to be delivered preterm to help them recover, and one in five of their babies need care in the neonatal unit.
"Getting a COVID-19 vaccine is one of the most important things a pregnant woman can do this year to keep herself and her baby as safe from this virus as possible," Lucy Chappell, chief scientific adviser to the U.K. Department of Health and Social Care, said in a statement Monday. "We have extensive evidence now to show that the vaccines are safe and that the risks posed by COVID-19 are far greater."
