COVID updates: New Zealand imposes restrictions amid omicron outbreak

New Mexico leaders are asking state employees and National Guard members to volunteer as substitute teachers and child care workers due to "extreme staffing shortages" amid the COVID-19 case surge.

"Many schools are being forced to shift to online learning and child care facilities are being forced to temporarily close when staff members test positive," state officials said in a statement Wednesday.

Since the holidays, about 60 school districts and charter schools switched to remote learning and 75 child care centers partially or completely closed due to staffing shortages, according to the state.

"The additional staffing will allow schools to avoid the disruptive process of switching between remote and in-person learning and prevent child care programs from having to shut down," state officials said.

The volunteers would have to complete the requirements necessary to be licensed as a substitute, including a background check and an online workshop.

While it's not clear how many people have placed an order for free COVID-19 tests since the White House's site launched Tuesday, the order form on the U.S. Postal Service website -- special.usps.com/testkits -- has been visited over 27 million times so far.

This initiative from the Biden administration' allows Americans to order up to four free at-home rapid tests per household.

-ABC News' Cheyenne Haslett

Following weeks of increasing cases, forecast models used by the CDC suggest that U.S. death totals will likely continue to increase over the next four weeks.

The models predict about 32,000 more Americans could die from COVID-19 over just the next two weeks.

By Feb. 12, about 931,000 total lives could be lost in the U.S. to the virus.

The CDC obtains the forecasts from the COVID-19 Forecast Hub at UMass Amherst, where a team monitors and combines forecasting models from the nation’s top researchers. The team then creates an ensemble -- displayed like a hurricane forecast spaghetti plot -- usually with a wide cone of uncertainty.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Wednesday the end of all COVID-19 measures in England that were imposed to combat the highly contagious omicron variant.

Effective immediately, secondary school students will no longer be required to wear face masks in classrooms. Starting next week, masks will not be compulsory anywhere, including on public transport and in shops. However, Johnson said his government will continue to advise people to wear masks in indoor or crowded settings.

The work-from-home guidance will also be lifted next week, along with mandatory COVID-19 passes at large venues, though business are allowed to use them if they wish.

People will still be required to self-isolate after testing positive for COVID-19, but the prime minister said there will "soon be a time" when that won't be mandated. The measure is due to expire in March, but Johnson said that date could be brought forward.

So-called Plan B restrictions were introduced in England last December amid a surge of COVID-19 cases as omicron quickly spread across the United Kingdom. The country's daily number of new cases remains high but appears to be dropping over the past week along with hospital admissions, while deaths are increasing.