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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New York state sets another daily case record
Nearly 22,000 positive COVID-19 test results were reported in New York state in the last 24 hours, according to Gov. Kathy Hochul's office -- breaking a single-day record set the day before.
The 21,908 positive COVID-19 test results are out of 290,930 results reported -- for a 7.53% positivity rate.
Demand for testing also continues to rise, with about 27,000 more people getting tested on Friday.
"This is not like the beginning of the pandemic. We are prepared for the winter surge because we have the tools at our disposal," Hochul said in a statement. "Getting vaccinated, getting the booster and wearing a mask are critical to avoiding getting seriously ill from COVID-19, so don't take a chance."
-ABC News' Joshua Hoyos
President Biden to announce 'next steps' in COVID-19 response on Tuesday
President Joe Biden will deliver remarks this Tuesday on the country's fight against COVID-19 and "announce new steps" the administration will take amid the growing spread of the omicron variant, White House officials said.
The president will address steps the administration is taking "to help communities in need of assistance, while also issuing a stark warning of what the winter will look like for Americans that choose to remain unvaccinated," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Twitter Saturday afternoon.
The speech will come as millions of Americans prepare to travel and gather for the holidays, and as concerns about the omicron variant continue in the U.S. and around the world.
-ABC News' Molly Nagle
Over 10,000 additional confirmed omicron cases in UK
An additional 10,059 confirmed cases of the omicron variant of COVID-19 have been reported across the U.K., according to the U.K. Health Security Agency's daily omicron overview on Saturday.
Confirmed omicron cases in the U.K. now total 24,968.
-ABC News' Rashid Haddou
Federal court allows Biden's workforce vaccine-or-test mandate to proceed
A federal appeals court reinstated the Biden administration's nationwide workplace vaccine mandate Friday.
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals dissolved the stay issued by the Fifth Circuit last month on the rule, which would require employees at private companies with over 100 workers to get vaccinated or tested regularly.
The mandate "is an important step in curtailing the transmission of a deadly virus that has killed over 800,000 people in the United States, brought our healthcare system to its knees, forced businesses to shut down for months on end, and cost hundreds of thousands of workers their jobs," Judge Jane Stranch wrote in the opinion.
The rule, which was set to go into effect on Jan. 4, 2022, had been put on hold by the Fifth Circuit after it ruled that the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration didn’t have the legal authority to impose such a requirement on private businesses.
The Labor Department had previously said it won’t move forward with enforcing its workplace mandate until the matter was resolved in court.
Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said Friday she plans to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to block the order.
-ABC News' Benjamin Siu and Anne Flaherty
Journalist traveling with Blinken tests positive for COVID-19 in Malaysia
A journalist traveling alongside U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on his visit to Southeast Asia has tested positive for COVID-19 in Malaysia, according to U.S. Department of State spokesperson Ned Price.
Meanwhile, Blinken and his senior staff all tested negative for COVID-19 upon arrival in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday night. The member of the traveling press pool who tested positive had last tested negative in Indonesia's capital, their previous stop, on Tuesday.
"The individual who tested positive will remain in isolation," Price said in a statement Wednesday, "and we will continue to adhere to and go beyond CDC guidance, including with our rigorous testing protocol, for the remaining traveling party."
Blinken has canceled a scheduled trip to Thailand "out of an abundance of caution" and will return home to the United States, according to Price.
"The Secretary expressed his deep regret to the Foreign Minister that he would not be able to visit Bangkok this week," Price said. "He explained that, in order to mitigate the risk of the spread of COVID-19 and to prioritize the health and safety of the U.S. traveling party and those they would otherwise come into contact with, the Secretary would be returning to Washington, D.C. out of an abundance of caution."
"The Secretary extended an invitation for the Foreign Minister to visit Washington, D.C. at the earliest opportunity and noted that he looked forward to traveling to Thailand as soon as possible," Price added. "They affirmed that they would use the upcoming engagements to further deepen the U.S.-Thai alliance."
The U.S. Embassy in Malaysia confirmed that the infected individual "was not involved and has not participated in any of Secretary Blinken's program in Kuala Lumpur."
"The sole member of the traveling party who tested positive is observing all requirements of the Ministry of Health," the embassy said in a statement Wednesday. "We confirm all other members of the party tested negative for COVID-19 upon arrival in Malaysia."
Blinken was in Indonesia on Tuesday, and the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta confirmed that no members of the traveling party tested positive for COVID-19.
All members of the U.S. delegation are required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and undergo regular testing on trips.
-ABC News' Conor Finnegan