COVID-19 updates: American Airlines to require employee vaccinations

The airline's CEO and president informed employees in a letter Friday.

ByJulia Jacobo, Ivan Pereira, Emily Shapiro, Kiara Alfonseca, Meredith Deliso, and Morgan Winsor
Last Updated: October 4, 2021, 6:54 AM EDT

The United States has been facing a COVID-19 surge as the more contagious delta variant continues to spread.

More than 700,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.7 million people have died from the disease worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

Just 65% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the CDC.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news developed. All times Eastern.
Sep 29, 2021, 6:25 PM EDT

West Virginia is in the eye if the COVID storm, governor says

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice offered yet another urgent plea Wednesday for residents to get vaccinated, as the state continues to struggle through its COVID-19 latest surge.

"There's absolutely every reason to believe we're right in the eye of the storm. We're right at the peak of the surge right now," Justice said in a news conference. "We're going to lose a bunch more people."

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice speaks during a press conference at the State Capitol in Charleston, W.V., March 12, 2020.
F. Brian Ferguson/AP, FILE

Only 48.1% of West Virginians have had one dose of the vaccine as of Wednesday, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

ICU capacity is currently at a record high, with nearly 300 patients receiving critical care, according to Justice.

"We can't have all these people just die in vain and have this just continue to go and continue to go," he said.

Justice explained that although he does not believe in mandates, all he can "possibly do with a good conscience," is to continue to urge everyone in the community to get vaccinated.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos

Sep 29, 2021, 5:25 PM EDT

Judge rules against NYC group suing over city worker vaccine mandate

New York City's vaccine mandate for city workers survived another challenge in court Wednesday.

New York State Supreme Court Justice Laurence Love wrote that the argument made by the New York City Municipal Labor Committee --which represents several unions-- contending that the city's order "violates employees’ individual bodily integrity and right to refuse medical treatment," is without merit.

"Public health concerns far outweigh the concerns of a few," the judge wrote in the 11-page ruling.

-ABC News' Will Gretsky

Sep 29, 2021, 3:54 PM EDT

Beijing 2022 Olympics tickets only available for spectators living in China's mainland

Spectator tickets for the Beijing 2022 Winter Games will only be sold to residents of China's mainland, according to the International Olympic Committee.

Participants who are not fully vaccinated will have to serve a 21-day quarantine upon arrival in Beijing.

-ABC News' Christine Theodorou

Sep 29, 2021, 3:20 PM EDT

30% of Louisiana's new cases were among kids

Of the 1,048 new COVID-19 cases reported to Louisiana health officials since Tuesday, 30% were among children, the state's health department said.

Louisiana currently has 952 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, state officials said.

A clinician cares for COVID-19 patients in a converted negative pressure room in the Intensive Care Unit at Lake Charles Memorial Hospital, Lake Charles, La., Aug. 10, 2021.
Mario Tama/Getty Images, FILE

A total of 13,900 Louisiana residents have died from COVID-19.

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