COVID updates: Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin tests positive

He said he has mild symptoms and will be quarantining for five days.

As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.4 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 825,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

About 62% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.


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UCLA pulls out of bowl game

UCLA said its football team has pulled out of Tuesday night's San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl due to COVID-19.

UCLA was set to play North Carolina State.


-ABC News' Matt Fuhrman


Greece sees record single-day increase 

Greece reported 21,657 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday -- a record 133% increase from the 9,284 new cases reported on Monday, according to government data.

Eighty-five percent of COVID-19 patients in Greece's hospitals are not vaccinated.

-ABC News' Christine Theodorou


US cases, hospitalizations, deaths expected to rise

Forecast models used by the CDC suggest cases, hospitalizations and deaths will rise over the next four weeks.


According to the models, the U.S. death toll could reach 862,900 by Jan. 22.

Nationally, estimates suggest between 8,700 and 20,800 Americans could be admitted to the hospital each day by Jan. 10.

These forecasts are from the COVID-19 Forecast Hub at UMass Amherst, where a team monitors and combines forecasting models from the nation’s top researchers. The team then creates an ensemble -- displayed like a hurricane forecast spaghetti plot -- usually with a wide cone of uncertainty.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos, Brian Hartman


Hugh Jackman tests positive, The Music Man cancels performances

Hugh Jackman, who has been starring in The Music Man on Broadway, tweeted that he tested positive for COVID-19 Tuesday morning.

"My symptoms are like a cold -- I have a scratchy throat and a bit of a runny nose," Jackman said in an Instagram video. "But I'm fine and I'm just going to do everything I can to get better ASAP. And as soon as I'm cleared, I'll be back on stage."


The Music Man tweeted that all performances are canceled through Jan. 1 and that Jackman will be back in the show on Jan. 6.


4 cruise ships report COVID outbreaks

At least four U.S. cruise ships are reporting COVID-19 outbreaks aboard, leading to them being denied entry to -- or turned away from -- foreign ports.

Holland America's Line Koningsdam was denied entry into Puerto Vallarta on Thursday after 21 crew members tested positive.

Additionally, the Carnival Freedom ship was turned away from the Caribbean Islands of Bonaire and Aruba on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, after "a small number" of passengers aboard tested positive for the virus.

Officials in Aruba and Curacao also turned away Royal Caribbean's Odyssey of the Seas on Wednesday after 55 fully vaccinated crew members and passengers tested positive.

On the same day, passengers aboard the Seven Seas Mariner were not allowed to disembark in Cartagena, Colombia, after six crew members and one passenger tested positive for COVID-19.