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
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