COVID-19 updates: Elizabeth Warren tests positive

The senator says she's experiencing "mild symptoms."

As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.3 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 806,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

About 61.4% 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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Omicron could spread up to 3 times faster than delta, new analysis finds

The omicron variant could spread two to three times faster than delta, according to a new report from the Imperial College London COVID-19 response team.

The study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, also estimated that the risk of being reinfected with omicron is more than five times higher than that of delta.

Data could change as more information on omicron's spread is gathered, though the study offers an early indication of how much more transmissible the new variant is compared to delta.

-ABC News' Cheyenne Haslett, Dr. John Brownstein and Sony Salzman


NFL games pushed back

Due to a "substantial increase in cases across the league," the NFL announced that several weekend games have been pushed back.

Saturday's game between the Las Vegas Raiders and Cleveland Browns has been moved from Saturday to Monday.

The Washington Football Team vs. Philadelphia Eagles matchup and Seattle Seahawks-Los Angeles Rams game have both been moved from Sunday to Tuesday.


New York state reports over 21K cases setting new pandemic record

New York state reported 21,027 cases Thursday, setting a new single-day high, Gov. Kathy Hochul's office said.

"The winter surge in COVID-19 cases is a reminder that the pandemic is not over yet and we must take extra care to keep ourselves and each other safe," Hochul said in a statement. "The vaccine is still our best weapon to defeat the virus."

-ABC News' Josh Hoyos


Southwest CEO tests positive after Senate hearing

Southwest CEO Gary Kelly has tested positive for COVID-19 after testifying at a Senate hearing Wednesday alongside other airline executives, a Southwest spokesperson said.

He was not masked during the hearing.

Kelly, who is fully vaccinated and boosted, has mild symptoms, the spokesperson said.

ABC News reached out to the airlines whose executives were next to Kelly at the hearing.

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby and Delta operations chief John Laughter tested negative Friday.

American Airlines CEO Doug Parker plans to test Friday afternoon, according to the airline. Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, said she will test Friday and in the coming days.

Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell told ABC News that committee members will "follow the protocols" for testing.

-ABC News' Mina Kaji, Allison Pecorin and Sam Sweeney


Indonesia confirms 1st case of omicron variant

Indonesia announced Thursday its first confirmed case of the omicron variant.

The case was detected in a janitor who works at the COVID-19 Emergency Hospital of Kemayoran Athletes Village in Jakarta, according to a statement from Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin.

The hospital's cleaning staff are routinely tested and the results for three people were positive for COVID-19 on Dec. 10. Those samples were then sent to a genome sequencing lab, which identified the omicron variant in one of the samples on Wednesday, according to the statement.

Indonesia's Ministry of Health has also identified probable cases of omicron among five travelers who were in quarantine -- two Indonesian citizens who had just returned from the United Kingdom and the United States, and three foreigners from China. Their test samples are being sequenced and the results will be known in a few days, according to the statement.

The health minister urged Indonesians "not to panic and to remain calm," and to get vaccinated against COVID-19 if they haven't already.

"The arrival of new variants from abroad, which we identified in quarantine, shows that our defense system against the arrival of new variants is quite good, we need to strengthen it," Sadikin said. "So it's normal to stay 10 days in quarantine. The goal is not to make it difficult for people who came, but to protect the people of Indonesia."