COVID updates: New Zealand imposes restrictions amid omicron outbreak

The country's PM also postponed her wedding due to the rise in cases.

ByMorgan Winsor, Emily Shapiro, and Meredith Deliso
Last Updated: January 24, 2022, 12:09 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 865,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

About 63.3% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Jan 18, 2022, 2:50 PM EST

Stephen A. Smith opens up about illness: 'I didn't know if I was gonna make it'

ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith is opening up about his intense COVID-19 battle.

After Smith tested positive in December, he said he had a 103 degree fever every night.

"Woke up with chills and a pool of sweat. Headaches were massive. Coughing profusely," Smith said, according to The New York Post.

Smith said he was admitted to the hospital over New Year's with pneumonia in both lungs.

“They told me, had I not been vaccinated, I wouldn’t be here. That’s how bad it was," he said.

Smith is now back to work, but he said, "two-and-a-half, three weeks ago, I didn’t know if I was gonna make it.”

-ABC News' Will Gretsky

Disney is the parent company of ABC News and ESPN.

Jan 18, 2022, 2:05 PM EST

New York cases down 75% from early January

New York state, hit hard by the omicron surge over the holidays, is seeing COVID-19 cases down 75% from early January, state officials said.

New York reported 22,312 new cases Tuesday, according to state data. On Jan. 7, New York state recorded 90,132 daily cases.

People wait in line at COVID-19 testing site in Times Square, Dec. 3, 2021, in New York.
Yuki Iwamura/AP, FILE

The seven-day average of new cases is down 38.9% from the previous week and the seven-day average of hospital admissions dropped 13.6% from the previous week, according to state data.

"We hope to close the books on this winter surge soon," Gov. Kathy Hochul said Tuesday.

-ABC News' Will Gretsky

Jan 18, 2022, 12:30 PM EST

Biden administration website to order free tests goes live

The Biden administration's website to order four free at-home rapid tests per household is now live at covidtests.gov.

Youngstown City Health Department worker Faith Terreri grabs two at-home COVID-19 test kits to be handed out during a distribution event, Dec. 30, 2021, in Youngstown, Ohio.
David Dermer/AP, FILE

The tests won't ship for another seven to 12 days.

-ABC News' Cheyenne Haslett

Jan 18, 2022, 11:45 AM EST

Omicron accounts for 99.5% of new cases in US: CDC

Omicron is estimated to account for 99.5% of new cases in the U.S. as of Saturday, according to new forecast data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday.

In early-December, omicron was estimated to account for just 0.6% of all new cases. The delta variant now accounts for only 0.5% of new U.S. cases, forecasters estimate.

These percentages are calculated using modeling and should be considered estimates, not exact figures.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos

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