COVID-19 updates: LA has highest daily death total since April

There are over 4,300 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Los Angeles County.

Last Updated: January 10, 2022, 10:36 PM EST

As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.5 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 849,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

About 62.9% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Jan 10, 2022, 10:27 PM EST

Chicago Teachers Union votes to end work stoppage

The Chicago Teachers Union House of Delegates voted Monday to end the work stoppage, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a press conference.

Lightfoot said teachers will be back on Tuesday, and students will return on Wednesday.

"To the parents, we heard you. We will never, never, not have you at the table with us in the future. No one wins when our students aren't where they can learn their best," she said.

She explained that city officials and the CTU reached an agreement on when a school will go remote.

"Teachers are so important to who our young people become. That's not what this was about. We love our teachers and continue to support our teachers," Lightfoot added. "I will always be on the side of our children and their families."

The news of the work stoppage comes after Chicago Public Schools, the nation’s third-largest district, canceled classes for a fourth day Monday amid negotiations with the teachers’ union over remote learning and COVID-19 safety protocols.

"The Chicago Teachers Union House of Delegates has voted tonight to suspend the Union's remote work action while rank-and-file membership votes on the proposed agreement," CTU tweeted Monday night.

Jan 10, 2022, 5:48 PM EST

Record-breaking 580,000 new pediatric COVID-19 cases reported in US

Amidst the nation's most significant COVID-19 infection surge yet, new data released on Monday shows that more than half a million children tested positive for COVID-19, last week, according to a weekly report from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association.

Last week alone, 580,000 children tested positive for COVID-19, marking a nearly three times more than two weeks prior, according to the organizations.

An nurse gives a 7-year-old their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at Children's Hospital Arcadia Speciality Care Center on Jan. 8, 2022, in Arcadia, Calif.
Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via Shutterstock

A total of 8.47 million children have tested positive for the virus since the onset of the pandemic, and nearly 11% of these children have tested positive in the past two weeks alone.

Children accounted for about 17.3% of the reported weekly COVID-19 cases last week, down again from previous weeks, when children accounted for more than a quarter of all new cases. For context, children under 18 make up 22.2% of the U.S. population. 

Still, recent COVID-19 data could be skewed due to erratic and volatile reporting following the holidays. An artificial increase in the numbers could have resulted as more Americans get tested.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos

Jan 10, 2022, 4:44 PM EST

Harris County raises COVID threat level

In Harris County, Texas, which encompasses Houston, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo has raised the COVID-19 threat level to “red” -- the highest level -- due to an uptick in hospitalizations.

In this Dec. 29, 2021, file photo, ambulances are parked outside the emergency room at Houston Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas.
Callaghan O'Hare/Reuters, FILE

COVID-19 patients occupy 18% of all ICU beds in the county.

-ABC News' Matt Fuhrman

Jan 10, 2022, 4:29 PM EST

8 at-home tests per month soon covered by insurance

The Biden administration is moving forward on a rule to make at-home rapid tests reimbursable for insured Americans.

Beginning Jan. 15, Americans will get up to eight tests covered per month, as well as an unlimited number of tests covered if ordered or administered by a doctor or nurse.

"Insurance companies and health plans are required to cover 8 free over-the-counter at-home tests per covered individual per month. That means a family of four, all on the same plan, would be able to get up to 32 of these tests covered by their health plan per month. There is no limit on the number of tests, including at-home tests, that are covered if ordered or administered by a health care provider following an individualized clinical assessment, including for those who may need them due to underlying medical conditions," the Department of Health and Human Services said in a press release.

-ABC News' Cheyenne Haslett

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