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 17, 2022, 12:30 AM 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 11, 2022, 12:23 PM EST

New York cases drop for 1st time in weeks

With 48,686 New Yorkers testing positive on Monday, the state saw a case drop for the first time in weeks, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced.

PHOTO: People walk by a Covid-19 vaccination site at a mall near the  Staten Island Ferry Terminal, Jan. 5, 2022, in New York City.
People walk by a Covid-19 vaccination site at a mall near the Staten Island Ferry Terminal, Jan. 5, 2022, in New York City.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Hochul called this "a glimmer of hope," but warned, "we are not at the end."

While hospitalizations continue to rise, "the rate of increase is slowing, and to us that is very encouraging," the governor said.

-ABC News' Will Gretsky

Jan 11, 2022, 10:52 AM EST

Chicago handing out 1.5 million KN95 masks

Chicago residents can head to their local alderman's office to get a free KN95 mask as the city distributes 1.5 million of them on Tuesday, ABC Chicago station WLS reported.

With another 4,793 daily cases, Chicago's test positivity rate stands at 18.9% as of Tuesday, according to city data.

Jan 11, 2022, 10:25 AM EST

Feds buy more monoclonal treatment that fights omicron

The U.S. government is buying 600,000 more doses of sotrovimab, the only the monoclonal antibody treatment expected to hold up against omicron, according to the drug makers, GlaxoSmithKline and Vir Biotechnology.

These doses are set to be delivered to the government over the next two months, the drug makers said.

This brings total sotrovimab doses purchased by the federal government to approximately 1 million. 

Short supply of sotrovimab has been a growing concern for the White House as omicron spreads.

A sign advertises a "Monoclonal Antibody Infusion Center" for coronavirus disease patients at the CHA Everett Hospital in Everett, Mass., Dec. 29, 2021.
Brian Snyder/Reuters, FILE

Until recently the government had not invested in buying bulk stock of sotrovimab, as it has with other monoclonal treatments. The government spent billions buying Regeneron and Eli Lilly's products to ensure there would be enough supply, but both of those may not hold up against omicron.

-ABC News' Sasha Pezenik

Jan 11, 2022, 9:50 AM EST

Florida sees over 126,000 cases in 1 weekend

Florida reported 126,704 new COVID-19 cases this weekend, ABC Miami affiliate WPLG reported, citing CDC data.

Orlando opened a new testing site Monday at Camping World Stadium.

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