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:
US cases up 45% in the last month
The U.S. is now reporting nearly 118,000 new cases each day -- up by 45% in the last month, according to federal data.
Daily COVID-19-related hospital admissions have leapt by 46% in the last month.
Maine and New Hampshire are now averaging more new cases than at any other point in the pandemic, according to federal data.
New Hampshire currently holds the nation's highest case rate, followed by Rhode Island, Maine, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos
South Africa sees new record case high
South Africa, one of the first countries to detect omicron, reported a record high of 26,976 new cases on Wednesday.
Just 26.09% of South Africa's residents are fully vaccinated, according to Africa CDC.
-ABC News' Christine Theodorou
George Washington University cancels events, moves exams online
George Washington University is joining Princeton, Cornell and NYU by canceling all events and moving exams online.
George Washington officials said there's "a significant increase" in cases, and while people are not severely sick, "it is critical that we act to limit the further spread."
-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart
Fenway Park to reopen as booster site
Boston's historic baseball stadium Fenway Park, which transformed into a mass vaccination site last winter, is expected to reopen its doors as a booster shot location in January, Red Sox officials told ABC News.
The Red Sox are working with the city and the governor's office to finalize the plans, Red Sox spokeswoman Zineb Curran said.
-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos
Omicron expected to be dominant variant in London within 48 hours
Omicron is expected to be the dominant variant in London in the next 48 hours, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Sajid Javid, warned in a statement to Parliament Monday.
Omicron represents 20% of England's cases and 44% of London's cases, Javid said.
"No variant of COVID-19 has spread this fast," Javid said.
Ten people with omicron are in U.K. hospitals.
"Hospitalisations and deaths lag infections by around two weeks," Javid said, "So we can expect those numbers to dramatically increase in the days and weeks that lie ahead."
"In preparation, the UK’s four Chief Medical Officers raised the COVID Alert level to 4, its second-highest level, this was done over the weekend. And NHS England has just announced it will return to its highest level of emergency preparedness: Level 4 National Incident," Javid said. "This means the NHS response to Omicron will be a coordinated as a national effort, rather than led by individual trusts."
Javid also urged people to get booster doses, stating that 40% of adults in the U.K. have gotten boosters so far.
-ABC News' Zoe Magee