Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Feb 02, 2022, 4:05 PM EST
More than 100,000 Americans have died from COVID since Thanksgiving
Since Thanksgiving, there have been more than 100,000 confirmed COVID-19-related deaths in the U.S., according to federal data.
The U.S. is reporting an average of nearly 2,300 new COVID-19-related deaths each day, the federal data show.
However, the nation's death toll remains significantly lower than last winter when the U.S. peaked at about 3,400 deaths per day.
About 126,000 Americans with COVID-19 are currently in hospitals -- down from 160,000 patients at the nation's peak 13 days ago.
X-ray technicians take a chest x-ray of an unvaccinated Covid-19 patient on the Intensive Care Unit floor at Hartford Hospital in Hartford, Conn., Feb. 1, 2022. Connecticut's test positivity rate dropped this week and has remained below 10% and hospitalizations are below 1,100 for the first time since late December.
Bloomberg via Getty Images
But 14 states are struggling with ICU capacities of 15% or less: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Texas.
-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos
Feb 02, 2022, 3:10 PM EST
US Army will 'immediately' discharge unvaccinated soldiers
The U.S. Army "will immediately begin separating Soldiers from the service who refuse to be vaccinated," the Army announced in a press release.
“Army readiness depends on Soldiers who are prepared to train, deploy, fight and win our nation’s wars,” Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth said. “Unvaccinated Soldiers present risk to the force and jeopardize readiness. We will begin involuntary separation proceedings for Soldiers who refuse the vaccine order and are not pending a final decision on an exemption.”
The Army was the last of the military services to say it would remove service members who didn’t comply with the Secretary of Defense’s mandatory vaccination order. In the fall, the Army issued temporary guidance that soldiers who didn’t get vaccinated would be “flagged” so they would lose a command, not be promoted or would only remain until their contracts expired.
Under the earlier flagging policy, six commanders were removed from command, and 3,073 soldiers received reprimands. Wednesday's announcement begins the discharge process for those 3,073 soldiers.
According to Army statistics, 96% of the Army's approximately 475,000 soldiers are fully vaccinated, and 97% have received at least one dose.
-ABC News' Luis Martinez
Feb 02, 2022, 10:31 AM EST
US death toll expected to approach 950,000 by end of month
Forecast models used by the CDC predict about 32,000 more Americans will die from COVID-19 by Feb. 26, bringing the nation's virus death toll to nearly 947,000.
The ensemble model estimates that 38 states have a greater than 50% chance of having more deaths over the next two weeks compared to the past two weeks.
Sandie Bushnur, a hospital sitter who provides companionship, observation, and surveillance to assigned patients, places her hand on a COVID-19 patient in the Telemetry extended Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at St. Mary Medical Center in Apple Valley Calif., Feb. 1, 2022.
Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
The models -- from the COVID-19 Forecast Hub at University of Massachusetts Amherst -- also suggest COVID-19-related hospital admissions will continue to decline in the weeks to come.
-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos
Feb 02, 2022, 5:44 AM EST
COVID-19 vaccine mandate for schoolchildren takes effect in New Orleans
New Orleans has become one of the first major U.S. cities to mandate COVID-19 vaccination for eligible children ages 5 and up in order to attend school.
The requirement went into effect Tuesday, though families may claim an exemption for philosophical, religious or medical needs, according to New Orleans public school districts.
"We all know that vaccines are the best tool that we have at our disposal at this time to keep our children in the classroom so that they can learn so that they can grow with their teachers as well as their friends," NOLA Public Schools Superintendent Henderson Lewis Jr. said during a press conference last December, when the mandate was announced.
Third grader Nila Carey, 8, looks away as she gets her COVID-19 vaccine shot from Licensed Practical Nurse Sandra Castro at KIPP Believe Charter School in New Orleans, Jan. 25, 2022. Students in New Orleans will be required to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as of Feb. 1, 2022, as the Louisiana city becomes one of the first big districts in the country to implement a vaccine requirement to go to school.
Ted Jackson/AP
A representative for NOLA Public Schools told ABC News that school officials will work to help students either complete their vaccination regimens or notify their schools that they are claiming an exemption. Students will not be removed or kicked out of class if they do not get vaccinated.
"The goal is not to deny educational opportunities to any child," the representative said in a statement Tuesday evening. "But we need parents and families to let us know where they stand -- either fully vaccinated, partly vaccinated, or exempt -- so that our schools can better plan around potential quarantines and limit future disruptions to students’ schooling as this pandemic continues. The deadline is about encouraging our families to take a personal stake in helping to keep safe our entire school community."
About 56% of 5 to 17 year olds in New Orleans have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while approximately 40% are fully vaccinated, according to the public school district. Beginning Tuesday, the Louisiana city will also require children ages 5 and up to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test to enter certain establishments.
