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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South Africa's president tests positive for COVID-19
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is receiving treatment for "mild COVID-19 symptoms" after testing positive for the virus on Sunday, his office said in a statement.
Ramaphosa, 69, began feeling unwell earlier Sunday after leaving a state memorial service in Cape Town in honor of Frederik Willem de Klerk, South Africa's last apartheid president and a Nobel laureate, who died last month. Ramaphosa, who is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, was experiencing "mild" symptoms and a test confirmed he was infected, according to his office. The statement didn't say whether he has the omicron variant, which was discovered by scientists in southern Africa last month and is spreading rapidly.
Ramaphosa is self-isolating in Cape Town and is being monitored by the South African Military Health Service. He has delegated all his responsibilities to Deputy President David Mabuza for the next week, his office said.
Last week, Ramaphosa traveled with a delegation to four West African nations. He and the members of the South African delegation were all tested for COVID-19 in each of the countries during their trip. They returned to South Africa on Dec. 8, after testing negative in Senegal. Ramaphosa tested negative again upon arriving in Johannesburg that day, according to his office.
The statement advised people who had contact with the South African president on Sunday to watch for symptoms or to get tested for COVID-19.
"President Ramaphosa says his own infection serves as a caution to all people in the country to be vaccinated and remain vigilant against exposure," his office said in the statement. "Vaccination remains the best protection against severe illness and hospitalization."
-ABC News' Christine Theodorou
Omicron now makes up nearly 100% of strains found in Orlando wastewater samples
The new omicron variant makes up nearly 100% of the strains found in wastewater samples in Orlando, Florida, officials said Thursday.
"It escalated rapidly," Orange County Utilities spokeswoman Sarah Lux told ABC News.
In its first test for the variant last Thursday, the department found no evidence of omicron in the community's wastewater, she said. On Saturday, it represented about 30% of the strains found in the samples, and by Tuesday, nearly 100%.
"So, we're talking about zero to nearly 100 in a matter of a week," Lux said.
All parts of the county are seeing an increasing presence of the omicron variant, she said. The southern area, home to the theme parks, has seen the highest amount of virus remnants, followed by the eastern area, which is home to the University of Central Florida.
-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos