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 12, 2022, 5:00 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 12, 2022, 5:00 AM EST

US government to send schools millions more COVID-19 tests

As U.S. President Joe Biden vows to keep all schools safely open for full-time in-person learning amid the pandemic, his administration announced Wednesday that it will provide schools with an additional 10 million COVID-19 tests per month.

The federal government will send 5 million more rapid tests and 5 million more lab-based PCR tests to schools nationwide each month, at no cost. The rapid tests will be delivered starting later this month, while the PCR tests will be available immediately. The additional tests every month will allow the country's schools to "more than double the volume of testing that took place in schools across the nation in November," according to a fact sheet from the White House.

Students return to campus at Olive Vista Middle School in Sylmar, California, on Jan. 11, 2022, on the first day back following winter break amid a surge in COVID-19 cases across Los Angeles County.
Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

Moreover, as the Biden administration continues to surge testing sites to hard-hit and high-risk communities, the federal government will also "consider how these sites can support the safe operations of K-12 schools," the White House said.

The U.S. Department of Education and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will also help connect schools with testing providers so they can use money allocated to them last year through the $1.9-trillion COVID-19 stimulus package. Later this week, the CDC will provide new training, resources and materials to help schools implement "test-to-stay" policies, according to the White House.

-ABC News' Ben Gittleson

Jan 12, 2022, 4:21 AM EST

West Virginia's governor says he feels 'extremely unwell' after testing positive for COVID-19

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice announced Tuesday evening that he tested positive for COVID-19 and is experiencing moderate symptoms.

Justice, 70, who is fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and has received a booster shot, said he has started a course of monoclonal antibody treatment, as recommended by his physicians. Everyone who has been in close contact with the governor over the past few days is being notified. His wife, Cathy Justice, tested negative for the virus on Tuesday evening, according to a press release from the governor's office.

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice celebrates his reelection at The Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, on Nov. 3, 2020. Justice tested positive for COVID-19 on Jan. 11, 2022, his office announced.
Chris Jackson/AP Photo, File

The governor was scheduled to deliver his State of the State address that night but was forced to do so via a written statement to the West Virginia Legislature instead.

"I feel extremely unwell at this point, and I have no choice but to postpone my State of the State address to the Legislature," Justice said in a statement Tuesday evening. "I woke up this morning with congestion and a cough. A little while later, I developed a headache and fever, so I decided to get tested right away."

"The rapid test that I took came back negative, but by the late afternoon, my symptoms were still getting much worse," he continued. "My blood pressure and heart rate were extremely elevated, and I had a high fever. Finally, my PCR test results this evening confirmed I was positive. Because of all this, I began receiving my antibody treatment and I hope this will lessen these symptoms."

Jan 12, 2022, 3:53 AM EST

'Most people are going to get COVID,' FDA head warns

The acting head of the Food and Drug Administration warned Tuesday that most people in the United States will contract COVID-19, as the country grapples with record levels of infections and hospitalizations.

"I think it's hard to process what's actually happening right now, which is most people are going to get COVID," Dr. Janet Woodcock, the acting commissioner of the FDA, said while testifying before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. "What we need to do is make sure the hospitals can still function, [and] transportation, you know, other essential services are not disrupted while this happens."

PHOTO: Dr. Janet Woodcock, acting commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, testifies before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 11, 2022.
Dr. Janet Woodcock, acting commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, testifies before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, which is examining the federal response to COVID-19 and new emerging variants, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 11, 2022.
Shawn Thew/Pool via AP

Jan 12, 2022, 2:54 AM EST

Weekly new COVID-19 cases increase 55% worldwide, WHO says

New COVID-19 cases increased 55% worldwide in the week ending Jan. 9, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday. 

More than 15 million new cases were reported, up from the about 9.5 million in the previous week, the United Nation's health agency said in its weekly epidemiological update. Omicron is "rapidly replacing" other variants of the virus, according to the update.

"In terms of disease severity, there is growing evidence that the Omicron variant is less severe as compared to other variants," the WHO said.

Last week's increase marked a slowdown from the 71% spike reported the previous week, following a "gradual" rise since October, according to the update. 

Reported cases in the Americas increased 78%, down from a 100% increase the week prior. The greatest increase in new cases came in Southeast Asia, where newly reported cases increased 418%, the WHO said.

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