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

Los Angeles County reported 66 deaths associated with COVID-19 on Saturday, which is the most coronavirus-related fatalities reported in one day since April 2, 2021, according to the county's health department.

The majority of deaths reported this week occurred in people who became infected after Dec. 20, when the omicron variant was circulating widely, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

The county also reported 41,765 new cases of COVID-19, and said "the extraordinarily high number of new cases reflects worrisome rates of community transmission."

In the county there are more than 4,300 people hospitalized with COVID-19.

-Ahmad Hemingway

The number of new coronavirus cases and the percentage of tests that come back positive continue to decline in New York state, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Saturday.

"We are turning the corner on the winter surge, but we're not through this yet," the governor said in a press release, echoing her comments from Friday.

Cases have dropped by nearly half since Jan. 7, from 90,000 to less than 48,000, while the percent positivity has declined to 14.62% from a surge-high of 23.17% on Jan. 2.

However, the number of patients in intensive care units and the number of those intubated both rose, an indication that the significant strain on hospitals continues.

-ABC News' Will McDuffie

The White House has awarded over $2 billion in contracts so far as part of its plan to ship millions of free COVID-19 rapid antigen tests to Americans.

Among the most recent, three companies -- IHealth Labs, Roche Diagnostics Corp. and Abbott -- were selected out of 20 bids to manufacture a combined 380 million tests, with completion dates by March 14, according to a Pentagon advisory released Friday.

IHealth was awarded a $1.27 billion contract, Roche a $340 million contract and Abbott a $306 million contract, with all funds coming from the American Rescue Act, the Pentagon said.

The federal government had previously announced contracts for 48.3 million tests worth a combined $341 million. 

Altogether, that amounts to about $2.2 billion for 428 million at-home rapid tests, which are part of a batch of 500 million the White House said it plans to ship out over the course of the next 60 days. 

On Thursday, President Joe Biden announced that the White House would also ship out another 500 million at-home tests, bringing the total to 1 billion. A timeline for the second batch of tests hasn't been announced yet.

-ABC News' Luis Martinez and Cheyenne Haslett

In newly updated COVID-19 guidance on its website, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that loosely woven cloth masks provide the "least protection", while masks like N95 respirators offer the highest level.

In some cases, Americans might want to opt for higher-quality masks like KN95 and N95 respirators, the agency said.

"Wearing a highly protective mask or respirator may be most important for certain higher risk situations, or by some people at increased risk for severe disease," the CDC stated.

The CDC recommendation stops short of calling on Americans to choose one mask over the other, maintaining that any mask is better than no mask.

The updated guidance comes after weeks of health experts urging Americans to upgrade their masks in the face of omicron.

-ABC News' Anne Flaherty