More than 160,000 COVID-19-positive Americans are currently in hospitals -- a pandemic high and double the number from about three weeks ago, according to federal data.

It's still not clear how many were admitted with COVID-19 and how many tested positive for the virus after they were admitted for other reasons.

The U.S. is reporting an average of 760,000 new cases per day, according to federal data.

Although case levels remain high, there's growing evidence to suggest the omicron surge is receding in the parts of the country first struck by the variant.

In New York, daily cases have dropped by 33% in the last week, while in New Jersey new cases are down by 43.7%.

Wisconsin now leads the nation in new cases per capita, followed by Rhode Island, Utah and South Carolina.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos

In San Francisco, COVID-19 cases are "dropping rapidly" following record highs that appeared to peak on Jan. 9, officials announced.

While "cases are still extremely high," they "have plateaued and are starting to go down," said Dr. Grant Colfax, director of the Department of Public Health.

"We're looking at data from other places … the consistent data seem to show that cases go up very fast, they started to come down very fast. So we're on that downward trend now," Colfax said.

Austria's parliament voted Thursday to mandate vaccinations for all adults, making Austria the first country in Europe to mandate the vaccine for all eligible residents.

According to the Austrian Health Ministry, 72% of the country's population is fully vaccinated.

The COVID-19 Vaccination Act will go into effect on Feb. 1. Beginning March 15, reminder letters will be sent to those who remain unvaccinated. Noncompliance can result in a fine.

Exempt from the new law are: minors, pregnant women, those who had COVID-19 within 180 days and people with medical exemptions.

-ABC News' Christine Theodorou

Beginning Feb. 2, masks will no longer be required outdoors in France and public establishments will no longer have to apply quotas for receiving the public, Prime Minister Jean Castex announced Thursday.

Working from home will be recommended but won't be mandatory as of Feb. 2, he said.

Beginning Feb. 16, nightclubs will reopen and standing consumption in bars will resume.

Some epidemiologists have suggested a peak in cases has been reached. But the prime minister warned that in a normal year the flu generates 10,000 hospitalizations in the winter, while omicron is causing 10,000 hospitalizations every five days.

Beginning Monday, the vaccine pass will come into force and will apply to everyone 16 and older.

-ABC News' Ibtissem Guenfoud

Italian police have arrested a nurse accused of pretending to inject COVID-19 vaccines into the arms of anti-vaxxers so they could benefit from vaccination certificates.

Investigators used a hidden camera to capture the nurse working at a vaccination center in Palmero. A clip from the footage, released Saturday by Italy's State Police, purportedly shows the woman preparing a booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and then emptying the syringe into a piece of gauze before pretending to inject it into an individual's arm. She faces charges of forgery and embezzlement, according to police.

Police said the woman also faked her own booster shot so she could continue working at the vaccination center, in coordination with another nurse who was arrested last December on similar charges. The other nurse is accused of faking COVID-19 vaccinations for 11 people, including a well-known leader of an anti-vaccine movement, according to police.

New restrictions came into force in Italy on Jan. 10, barring people who aren't fully vaccinated against COVID-19 from accessing restaurants, gyms, swimming pools, theaters, cinemas, sport events and public transport. Unvaccinated individuals who recently recovered from COVID-19 are exempt from the new rule, which will be in force until March 31. The measures were imposed amid a sharp rise in COVID-19 infections across the European country.