The U.S. is now reporting an average of about 745,000 new cases per day, down by about 5% in the last week, according to federal data. It is still unclear whether the nation is experiencing a true plateau or whether data is skewed from the holiday weekend.

In the last month alone, the U.S. recorded 18.2 million new cases, according to Johns Hopkins University data -- more than one-quarter of the nation's total number of confirmed cases reported since the onset of the pandemic.

There's growing evidence to suggest the latest omicron surge continues to recede in the parts of the country first struck by the variant.

In New York, daily cases have dropped by nearly 38% in the last week, and in New Jersey, new cases are down by 45.8%, according to federal data.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos

Beginning Saturday, the Department of Homeland Security is requiring non-U.S. citizens entering the U.S. via land or ferry to be fully vaccinated.

This rule, outlined in October, applies to people arriving from Mexico's and Canada's borders.

This requirement does not apply to U.S. citizens traveling over the border.

-ABC News' Luke Barr

Despite waning immunity over time, vaccines still dramatically reduced the risk of severe illness caused by COVID-19 through at least the end of the delta wave, according to data updated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Thursday evening.

In November, unvaccinated adults had a four times greater risk of testing positive for COVID-19, and a 15 times greater risk of dying from COVID-19, compared to vaccinated individuals, according to federal data pulled from 28 states and jurisdictions.

Additionally, unvaccinated adults had a 13 times greater risk of testing positive for COVID-19 and a 68 times greater risk of dying from it as compared to fully vaccinated individuals with a booster.

The emergence of omicron does appear to have increased the occurrence of breakthrough cases. Between late November and late-December, the rate of infections among the fully vaccinated increased more than fourfold. Even so, unvaccinated Americans remained twice as likely to test positive for the virus.

Similarly, the rate of infections among the fully vaccinated and boosted Americans testing positive increased by nearly tenfold. However, unvaccinated Americans remained 3.8 times as likely to test positive for the virus.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos

A new CDC study finds that the omicron variant was likely in the U.S. more than a week before the first case was detected.

The first official case was detected on Dec. 1 in California. But a review of the national wastewater surveillance system indicates that the variant could have been present as early as Nov. 21, according to samples collected in New York City.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos, Sony Salzman

China is tightening travel restrictions for its capital ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics, requiring all travelers to take a nucleic acid test within 72 hours of entry.

The new restrictions, which will be put in place on Jan. 22, were announced after Beijing recorded its first case of the highly contagious omicron variant in a suburb near many of the Olympic venues over the weekend. Health authorities have sealed off the patient's' residential compound and workplace.

Beijing health officials told reporters Monday that the single omicron case in the city may have been infected by a package the patient received from Canada. None of the patient's close contacts in their community or workplace tested positive, officials said during a press conference.

Some schools in Beijing have also closed early and moved classes online.

According to the Chinese National Health Commission's daily report released Monday, there were 65 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases on the mainland and 54 imported cases. One new case was recorded in Beijing, the report said.

The 2022 Winter Olympics is slated to kick off in the Chinese capital on Feb. 4.

-ABC News' Christine Theodorou and Karson Yiu