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.
Latest headlines:
South Africa sees new record case high
South Africa, one of the first countries to detect omicron, reported a record high of 26,976 new cases on Wednesday.
Just 26.09% of South Africa's residents are fully vaccinated, according to Africa CDC.
-ABC News' Christine Theodorou
George Washington University cancels events, moves exams online
George Washington University is joining Princeton, Cornell and NYU by canceling all events and moving exams online.
George Washington officials said there's "a significant increase" in cases, and while people are not severely sick, "it is critical that we act to limit the further spread."
-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart
Fenway Park to reopen as booster site
Boston's historic baseball stadium Fenway Park, which transformed into a mass vaccination site last winter, is expected to reopen its doors as a booster shot location in January, Red Sox officials told ABC News.
The Red Sox are working with the city and the governor's office to finalize the plans, Red Sox spokeswoman Zineb Curran said.
-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos
Fauci says if we didn't have the tools, he'd be way more worried about omicron
Asked how worried Americans should be about omicron and a post-holiday surge, Dr. Anthony Fauci said that if we didn't have vaccines, boosters and masks he'd "really be worried."
"But we have tools. So get vaccinated, get boosted," Fauci said at Wednesday's White House COVID-19 briefing.
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said the agency expects to see omicron continue to grow.
"What does this mean for individuals and families as we head into the winter months? A time when families may be gathering with one another over the holidays? It means that it is vital for everyone to get vaccinated and boosted if they are eligible," Walensky said.
White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients added, "We're not going to shut down our economy in any way. We're going to keep our schools and our businesses open."
-ABC News' Cheyenne Haslett
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."