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.

ByMorgan Winsor, Emily Shapiro, Ivan Pereira, and Meredith Deliso
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.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Jan 13, 2022, 3:00 PM EST

Supreme Court issues stay of vaccine-or-test requirement on private businesses

The Supreme Court has issued a stay of the vaccine-or-test requirement imposed on private businesses with at least 100 employees by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

In a 6-3 ruling, with the three liberal justices dissenting, the court finds likelihood the challengers will prevail and that OSHA exceeds its authority. 

At the same time, the justices voted 5-4 to allow the Biden administration to require health care workers at facilities that treat Medicare and Medicaid patients to be vaccinated, subject to religious or medical exemptions.

-ABC News' Devin Dwyer

Jan 13, 2022, 11:22 AM EST

8,000 Delta employees test positive within 4 weeks

About 8,000 of Delta Air Lines' 75,000 employees had COVID-19 over the last four weeks, Delta CEO Ed Bastian told CNBC.

"Good news is that they were all fine. There's been no significant issues," he said.

"But it's knocked them out of the operation" amid the busiest travel season in two years, he said.

Empty Delta Airlines counter is seen at the Newark International Airport in New Jersey, on Dec. 27, 2021.
Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

United CEO Scott Kirby said Tuesday that around 3,000 of United workers have COVID-19 right now.

Across the U.S., 3,783 TSA employees are currently at home with COVID-19, the agency said.

Crowds of passengers navigate busy Terminal 1 at O'Hare International Airport, in Chicago, Dec. 27, 2021.
Chicago Tribune/TNS via Getty Imges

-ABC News' Mina Kaji, Sam Sweeney

Jan 13, 2022, 10:53 AM EST

Biden: White House now trying to acquire 1 billion tests

President Joe Biden said he’s directing his team to procure 500 million additional tests to meet future demand -- bringing the total to 1 billion.

President Joe Biden speaks about the government's COVID-19 response, in the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House Campus in Washington, D.C., Jan. 13, 2022.
Andrew Harnik/AP

Biden said the White House is on track to roll out a website next week allowing Americans to order tests shipped to their homes.

The administration will also announce next week how it's making high-quality masks available for free, Biden said.

Biden also made a plea to social media companies and media outlets.

"Please deal with the misinformation and disinformation that’s on your shows -- it has to stop," he said. "COVID-19 is one of the most formidable enemies America has ever faced. We’ve got to work together."

Jan 13, 2022, 10:27 AM EST

US death toll up 50% since Christmas

The U.S. is now reporting an average of 1,650 new COVID-19-related deaths each day -- up by about 50% since Christmas, according to federal data.

A stretcher waits in a kitchen as a funeral home worker prepares to transport the body of a woman who died of Covid-19 in her bed at home on Sept. 13, 2021 in Houston.
John Moore/Getty Images, FILE

Indiana currently has the highest death rate, followed by Delaware and New York City.

Twenty-six states are now averaging more daily cases than at any point in the pandemic, according to federal data.

Surging national case numbers, however, may not be indicative of what is happening in every region of the country. Some areas could see a decline or a plateau in cases, according to some experts.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos

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