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:
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The study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, also estimated that the risk of being reinfected with omicron is more than five times higher than that of delta.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
Omicron appears to spread faster and vaccine less effective against it, WHO says
The omicron variant appears to have a "growth advantage" over the delta variant, the World Health Organization said in a technical brief released Sunday.
"It is spreading faster than the delta variant in South Africa where delta circulation was low, but also appears to spread more quickly than the delta variant in other countries where the incidence of delta is high, such as in the United Kingdom," the WHO said in the brief, which was dated Friday. "Whether omicron's observed rapid growth rate in countries with high levels of population immunity is related to immune evasion, intrinsic increased transmissibility, or a combination of both remains uncertain. However, given the current available data, it is likely that omicron will outpace the delta variant where community transmission occurs."
Meanwhile, preliminary findings from South Africa suggest omicron may cause less severe illness than delta, and all cases of omicron reported in Europe to date have been mild or asymptomatic. But the WHO said "it remains unclear to what extent omicron may be inherently less virulent" and that "more data are needed to understand the severity profile."
The WHO also noted that "there are limited available data, and no peer-reviewed evidence, on vaccine efficacy or effectiveness to date for omicron." However, preliminary evidence, and the considerably altered antigenic profile of the variant's spike protein, suggests a reduction in vaccine efficacy against infection and transmission associated with omicron.
"There is some preliminary evidence that the incidence of reinfection has increased in South Africa, which may be associated with humoral (antibody-mediated) immune evasion," the WHO said.
The diagnostic accuracy of routinely used polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test and antigen-based rapid diagnostic test (Ag-RDT) assays does not appear to be influenced by omicron. Therapeutic interventions for the management of severe or critical COVID-19 symptoms associated with omicron are also expected to remain effective, according to the WHO.
"However, monoclonal antibodies will need to be tested individually, for their antigen binding and virus neutralization and these studies should be prioritized," the WHO added.
-ABC News' Christine Theodorou