COVID-19 live updates: New York sees fourfold increase in pediatric hospitalizations
The shift reflects the spread of the omicron variant.
As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.3 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 816,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
About 61.7% 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:
- New record case high on Christmas Eve in New York
- 'Everybody' in Australia will get omicron, health minister says
- American, Delta, JetBlue, United report impacts from omicron
- Cases soar in Florida
- CDC issues contingency plan for to prevent shortage of health care workers in event of major omicron surge
- New York sees record-smashing 44,431 cases in 1 day
- White House to lift travel restrictions on southern African countries
Omicron will present 'very challenging few weeks' for New York City
The omicron surge will bring "a very challenging few weeks" to New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday.
"We are going to see a surge of cases in a few weeks, then we think we will see it trail off," the mayor said.
New York City is adding 23 new city-run testing sites this week to respond to skyrocketing demand, the mayor said. That will bring the number of city-run sites to 112.
-ABC News' Aaron Katersky, Will McDuffie
Rafael Nadal tests positive
Tennis star Rafael Nadal tweeted that he tested positive for COVID-19 when he arrived in Spain after playing a tournament in Abu Dhabi.
UK cases jump 60% in 1 week
The United Kingdom recorded 91,743 cases over the last 24 hours, according to government numbers.
That brings the U.K.'s weekly total to 584,688 – a 60.8% increase from the previous week.
Government ministers are holding a cabinet meeting to discuss potential new measures to curb the spread.
-ABC News' Guy Davies
Michigan hospitals strained: 'We are tired and we are disheartened'
Eighteen states have an ICU capacity of 15% or less. Michigan in particular has been struggling through its latest COVID-19 surge for nearly three months.
Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit is seeing an increased number of ventilators in use and the "overwhelming majority" of patients on ventilators are unvaccinated, Dr. Jayna Gardner-Gray told ABC News.
Sarah Rauner, a chief nurse practitioner at Beaumont Health, told ABC News, "I have seen and witnessed things in the last two years that have forever changed me."
"I remember thinking to myself when we were going through the third surge, 'What are we going to do if there's a fourth?' And here we are in the middle of a fourth surge in the holidays. I am very concerned," she said. "We are burnt out. We are tired and we are disheartened. So much of what we see on a daily basis is preventable. However, we are still living this every day."
Rauner has one ask of all Americans: "Get your family vaccinated."
-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos
Ohio hospitals take out an ad in local paper pleading for people to get vaccinated
Six hospitals in Ohio have taken out a full-page ad in the Cleveland Plain-Dealer in a desperate plea for people to get vaccinated as the state faces a renewed surge.
The ad, which appeared in Sunday's paper, says in big letters: "Help."
"We need your help. We now have more COVID-19 patients in our hospitals than ever before," the ad says. "And the overwhelming majority are unvaccinated. This is preventable."
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced last week that he would deploy the state's National Guard to help with hospital strain. Ohio is now averaging more than 9,100 new cases every day -- up 67.5% in the last month. Statewide, more than 5,200 patients are hospitalized with COVID-19.
"The best way to avoid serious illness is the vaccine," the ad said. "So, get vaccinated and get your booster ... we need you to care as much as we do."
-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos