COVID-19 updates: Classes in Chicago canceled for 4th day
Chicago Public Schools has been in talks with teachers over COVID-19 safety.
As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.4 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 837,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
About 62.5% 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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Mayo Clinic lays off 1% of staff for vaccine noncompliance
Mayo Clinic said it will lay off about 1% of its staff for failing to get at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by a company deadline.
"While Mayo Clinic is saddened to lose valuable employees, we need to take all steps necessary to keep our patients, workforce, visitors and communities safe. If individuals released from employment choose to get vaccinated at a later date, the opportunity exists for them to apply and return to Mayo Clinic for future job openings," Mayo Clinic said in a statement to ABC.
Last October, Mayo Clinic had set a Jan. 3 deadline for all employees to get at least their first vaccine dose or face dismissal.
The health care organization said the number of staffers being let go was "comparable to what other health care organizations have experienced in implementing similar vaccine requirement programs."
Mayo Clinic employs about 73,000 people, according to its website.
FDA: Do not swab your throat with at-home COVID-19 tests
The FDA is warning people not to swab their throats as part of an at-home COVID-19 test.
In a statement obtained by ABC News, the FDA said that is not how the tests were designed and it could pose a safety concern.
"The FDA advises that COVID-19 tests should be used as authorized, including following their instructions for use regarding obtaining the sample for testing," the statement said.
Social media posts promoting at-home COVID-19 rapid test swabbing techniques claim that throat swabs collect a better sample. However, this hasn't been proven for currently authorized tests.
- ABC News' Sony Salzman
Biden doubles Pfizer antiviral pill purchase
President Joe Biden announced Tuesday afternoon that he was doubling the federal government's purchases of Pfizer's COVID-19 antiviral pill, from 10 million to 20 million treatment courses.
"They’re a gamechanger and have the potential to dramatically alter the impact of COVID-19, the impact it's had on this country and our people,” Biden said.
He also warned that those who remain unvaccinated "will die" during the ongoing omicron surge.
“So there's no excuse, no excuse, for anyone being unvaccinated,” Biden said.
-ABC News' Ben Gittleson
US now averaging nearly 500,000 daily cases, data shows
Data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from the weekend shows that the U.S. is now averaging nearly half a million new cases a day.
About a year ago, the U.S. was reporting an average of about 216,000 new cases a day. However, compared to last winter, hospital admissions and daily deaths are notably lower.
Over the last week, the U.S. reported more than 3.4 million new cases -- roughly averaging out to nearly six Americans testing positive every second.
-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos
COVID positivity rate at US Capitol reaches 13%
The seven-day positivity rate at the U.S. Capitol COVID-19 testing center has increased from 1% to 13%, according to a letter sent from the Office of the Attending Physician to congressional offices on Monday.
Most cases have been breakthroughs among people who are fully vaccinated and have not “led to hospitalizations, serious complications, or deaths, attesting to the value of coronavirus vaccinations," the letter reads.
The letter also states that about 61% of COVID-19 infections at the Capitol have been linked to the omicron variant, and 38% are linked to the delta variant.
The OAP advised congressional offices to telework as much as possible and that "blue surgical masks, cloth face masks and gaiter masks must be replaced by the more protective KN95 or N95 masks."