Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Jan 24, 2022, 1:18 PM EST
New Jersey cases drop by two-thirds in 2 weeks
The omicron surge appears to be letting up in New Jersey, where cases are now down by roughly two-thirds from two weeks ago, Gov. Phil Murphy announced.
While hospitalization numbers have been falling this week, Murphy stressed that they're still "higher than anything we had seen with the two prior surges."
"We also remain very concerned about the ICU and ventilator numbers, which are coming down much more slowly," the governor said.
Jan 24, 2022, 12:26 PM EST
31 states report plateauing or decreasing new case rates
Following weeks of increasing infections, COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. are rising. The nation is now reporting nearly 2,000 new COVID-19-related deaths per day -- up by 30% in the last two weeks, according to federal data.
But there's continued evidence that the nation's most recent surge may be receding in many regions. Thirty-one states as well as Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico are now reporting decreasing or plateauing new case averages, according to federal data.
The only states with an increase in new cases are: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, Kentucky, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Medical staff treat a COVID-19 patient in their isolation room in the ICU at Western Reserve Hospital in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, Jan. 4, 2022.
Shannon Stapleton/Reuters, FILE
Nationwide, the U.S. is reporting an average of 716,000 new cases per day, down by about 10% in the last week.
However, case levels in the U.S. remain incredibly high. In the last seven days, the U.S. reported more than 5 million new cases. Only 1% of U.S. counties aren't reporting high transmission, according to federal data.
-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos
Jan 24, 2022, 11:51 AM EST
Palin tests positive for COVID, delaying her libel trial against New York Times
Former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin has tested positive for COVID-19, a Manhattan federal court judge announced Monday, as her libel trial against the New York Times was about to begin.
In this Sept. 21, 2017 file photo Sarah Palin speaks while campaigning for Senate candidate Judge Roy Moore at the Historic Union Station Train Shed in Montgomery, Ala.
Tami Chappell/Reuters
“Since she has apparently tested positive three times I’m going to assume she’s positive,” Judge Jed Rakoff said.
The libel case between Palin and the newspaper has now been delayed until Feb. 2.
Palin sued the New York Times after an editorial incorrectly linked her political rhetoric to the mass shooting that gravely injured Rep. Gabby Giffords. Palin is expected to testify.
-ABC News' Aaron Katersky
Jan 24, 2022, 10:30 AM EST
General in charge of US Special Operations Command has COVID
Gen. Richard Clarke, the head of U.S. Special Operations Command, has tested positive for COVID-19 and is working from home, U.S. Special Operations Command spokesperson Col. Curt Kellogg said.
Special Operations Command Gen. Richard Clarke speaks at a hearing on Capitol Hill, March 25, 2021, in Washington, D.C.
Anna Moneymaker/The New York Times via AP, Pool, FILE
Clarke, who has been vaccinated and boosted, has "very mild symptoms," Kellogg said.
"Gen. Clarke has not been in the physical presence of senior DoD civilian leadership or members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff this month," Kellogg said.
