COVID-19 updates: LA has highest daily death total since April

Nationwide, more than 157,000 COVID-19-positive patients are currently receiving care -- a pandemic high, according to federal data.

More than 5,200 children are currently hospitalized with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 – also a record high.

On average, over 20,000 Americans are being admitted to the hospital with COVID-19 each day, a figure that's more than doubled over the last month, according to federal data.

It's still not clear how many of these patients were admitted to the hospital for COVID-19 and how many people coincidentally tested positive after they were admitted for other reasons.

About 83% of staffed adult ICU beds are occupied (by COVID and non-COVID patients) -- the highest ICU capacity in one year, according to federal data.

On average, the U.S. is now reporting a record high of more than 782,000 new COVID-19 cases each day, according to federal data.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos

Utah health officials on Friday announced a change to testing guidelines due to a shortage of test availability in the state.

Symptomatic individuals in the general public are urged not to test and just isolate for five days and the "Test To Stay" program at schools is being suspended.

Since Christmas Day, daily tests in Utah have jumped from about 19,000 to nearly 48,000.

State epidemiologist Dr. Leisha Nolen said Utah must use its test supply where it has the biggest impact, and right now that's not in the general community or schools.

Utah officials say you should still get tested if: you have underlying conditions; you're visiting a vulnerable individual; you work in a health care setting and are symptomatic or have been exposed; you’re seeking confirmation that the infection has passed so you can end isolation.

-ABC News' Matt Fuhrman

Omicron became the dominant variant in New York City within five weeks after it was first detected, according to a new report released Thursday by the city's health department. 

By comparison, it took 20 weeks for the delta variant to become dominant.

The report, which details preliminary findings on the city's omicron wave, found that there have been lower hospitalization rates but more total hospitalizations compared to the delta wave due to "significantly greater case numbers."

Unvaccinated New Yorkers were more than eight times more likely to be hospitalized than those who were fully vaccinated early in the omicron wave, the report found. Black New Yorkers and people ages 75 and older also were more likely to be hospitalized.

Unvaccinated pregnant women with COVID-19 and their newborn babies have a higher risk of complications from the disease compared with those who are vaccinated, a new study found.

In the study, published Thursday in Nature Medicine, researchers from Public Health Scotland looked at vaccination rates and COVID-19 outcomes in 131,875 pregnant women in Scotland between Dec. 8, 2020, and Oct. 31, 2021, when the delta variant was dominant.

They found that 90.9% of COVID-19 hospital admissions, 98% of intensive care admissions and all 450 newborn deaths were in unvaccinated pregnant women. 

The study reiterates the importance of pregnant women getting vaccinated against the virus due to a greater risk of dangerous health complications from COVID-19. A growing body of research has shown the vaccines to be safe and effective for pregnant women.

-ABC News' Dr. Siobhan Deshauer, Sony Salzman and Dr. Alexis Carrington