COVID-19 updates: US cases down nearly 25%

Most states are seeing cases decreasing or at a plateau.

ByMorgan Winsor and Emily Shapiro
Last Updated: January 31, 2022, 12:24 AM EST

As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.6 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 883,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

About 63.7% 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 26, 2022, 10:40 AM EST

US hospital admissions projected to fall for 1st time in months

COVID-19-related hospital admissions in the U.S. are expected to fall in the weeks to come, the first time the nation would see a decline in months, according to forecast models used by the CDC.

A son and daughter embrace their father, a COVID-19 patient in the ICU ward, before he's intubated at the Providence Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, Calif., Jan. 25, 2022.
Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

Estimates suggest between 4,900 and 27,800 Americans could be admitted to the hospital each day by Feb. 18.

Deaths from COVID-19 are expected to remain stable or have an uncertain trend. Estimates suggest about 33,000 more Americans could die from COVID-19 over the next two weeks.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos

Jan 25, 2022, 6:06 PM EST

All Super Bowl attendees to get KN95 mask

Every attendee of next month's Super Bowl in Los Angeles will receive a KN95 mask, health officials said Tuesday.

Additionally, "safety team members" will remind fans to keep their masks on unless they are eating or drinking, Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said during a county Board of Supervisors meeting.

Attendees at the Super Bowl Experience will also receive a free at-home rapid test kit, Ferrer said, with messaging to test before the big game on Feb. 13 at SoFi Stadium. 

The county expects to distribute over 60,000 take-home kits during the Super Bowl Experience, held at the Los Angeles Convention Center from Feb. 5 to Feb. 12.

-ABC News' Jennifer Watts

Jan 25, 2022, 5:33 PM EST

New York school mask mandate allowed to remain in effect for now

"These measures are critical tools to prevent the spread of COVID-19, make schools and businesses safe, and save lives," New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement Tuesday after the judge granted the state's motion to keep the mandate in place. "We will not stop fighting to protect New Yorkers, and we are confident we will continue to prevail."

A court hearing in the case is scheduled for Friday morning.

At least 20 districts across Long Island had immediately ditched their mask mandates after a judge in Nassau County said Monday that state education officials overstepped their authority when they reinstituted the mask mandate amid a winter surge in coronavirus cases.

The state education department has instructed school districts to keep the mandate in place, requiring all staff and students in pre-K through 12th grade to wear masks indoors regardless of vaccination status.

-ABC News' Aaron Katersky

Jan 25, 2022, 4:55 PM EST

Omicron estimated to account for 99.9% of new US cases

The omicron variant is estimated to account for 99.9% of all new cases in the U.S. as of Jan. 22, according to the CDC.

In early December, omicron was estimated to make up just 0.6% of new cases.

Delta now accounts for 0.1% of new cases nationally, forecasters estimate.

These estimates are the results of CDC modeling using recently available data.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos

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