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:
White House delays enforcement of workforce vaccine-or-test mandate
Enforcement of the Biden administration's vaccine-or-test mandate for private companies with more 100 employees will be delayed by a month, officials said.
The Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced the change Saturday, a day after a federal appeals court lifted a stay on the rule, allowing it to proceed.
Previously, the mandate required companies to enforce masks among unvaccinated employees beginning Dec. 6, and either see proof of vaccination or begin testing workers weekly by Jan. 4.
The new deadlines for compliance are now Jan. 10 and Feb. 9, respectively, OSHA said.
-ABC News' Anne Flaherty
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
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