COVID updates: Team USA figure skater Vincent Zhou tests positive at Olympics

He is undergoing additional testing to see if he can compete.

Last Updated: February 4, 2022, 4:55 PM EST

As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.7 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 902,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

About 64% 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.
Feb 04, 2022, 4:55 PM EST

US surpasses 900,000 deaths

The U.S. has surpassed 900,000 confirmed COVID-19-related deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

The death toll currently stands at 900,334.

The U.S. has had over 76 million COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos

Feb 04, 2022, 2:56 PM EST

9% of ICU beds free in Oklahoma, health care workers '1 patient away from an emotional breakdown'

In Oklahoma, where just 9% of ICU beds are available statewide, for health care workers "every day is just filled with nonstop suffering," a nurse told ABC News.

"I just pray I don't have to zip up another body bag, I don't have to call someone and let them know that their loved one's not coming home," Kelly Hale, a nurse at Mercy Hospital Oklahoma City, told ABC News. "We're all just one patient away from an emotional breakdown."

"The majority of our patients are unvaccinated which adds just a whole other level of difficulty for us," Hale said.

She continued, "No one really knows how many tears I shed. Not my family, not my friends. I really want them to know."

"Just please be nice if you know someone in the health care field that's going through this," Hale said. "Just reach out see if they're okay."

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos

Feb 04, 2022, 2:09 PM EST

Deaths at highest point in nearly 1 year

The daily death average in the U.S. now stands at more than 2,400 -- the highest daily death average in nearly one year and nearly double the average from one month ago.

But cases are continuing to fall with all but three states reporting declining or plateauing case rates. Washington state is seeing an increase in cases while Maine and Montana are reporting cases at a plateau, according to federal data.

Hospitalizations are also dropping nationwide. About 120,000 COVID-19-positive patients are currently in U.S. hospitals. Fifteen days ago, there were 160,000 patients, according to federal data.

Nurse Jason Doff and Dr. James Darnton, right, check on a patient in the acute care COVID-19 unit at Harborview Medical Center on Jan. 21, 2022, in Seattle.
Karen Ducey/Getty Images

However 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 for the virus after they were admitted for other reasons.

Nearly 62 million eligible Americans remain completely unvaccinated. 

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos

Feb 04, 2022, 1:39 PM EST

Study: Odds of testing positive 83% lower if wearing N95/KN95 compared to no mask 

A new study from the California Department of Public Health found that your odds of testing positive for COVID-19 are 83% lower if wearing an N95 or KN95 mask while indoors compared to no mask. 

A KN95 face mask is photographed with surgical masks.
Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

The odds of testing positive are 66% lower if wearing a surgical mask compared to no mask, and 56% lower if wearing a cloth mask compared to no mask, the study found. 

This study, however, was conducted prior to the more contagious variants and did not inquire about additional infection control behaviors such as social distancing. 

-ABC News' Sony Salzman, Aiya Aboubakr, Nitya Rajeshuni

Related Topics