COVID updates: Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin tests positive
He said he has mild symptoms and will be quarantining for five days.
As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.4 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 825,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
About 62% 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 breaks weekly COVID-19 case record
The United States has recorded 2.2 million confirmed COVID-19 cases over the last week, setting a grim record as the highest number of cases confirmed in one week.
The previous record was set just a few days earlier from Dec. 22 to Dec. 29, when the U.S. confirmed 1.9 million COVID-19 cases. Before that, the previous record totaled 1.75 million cases from Jan. 5 to Jan. 11 at the start of 2021.
Some NJ schools go remote as cases surge
At least 10 of the 13 school districts in Hudson County, New Jersey are switching back to remote learning next week as the daily total of confirmed COVID-19 cases skyrocket in the state.
Bayonne, Jersey City, Harrison, Union City, West New York, Weehawken, Guttenberg, Hoboken, East Newark and North Bergen will go remote until Jan. 7 at the earliest.
On Thursday, New Jersey reported a record number of 27,975 positive daily tests. The previous record was 20,483, which was confirmed just one day earlier.
FDA to authorize boosters for 12- to 15-year-olds
The Food and Drug Administration is likely to authorize Pfizer COVID-19 booster shots for 12- to 15-year-olds next week, a source with direct knowledge of the plan told ABC News.
An authorization may come as early as Monday.
-ABC News' Eric Strauss
US pediatric COVID-19 hospital admissions hit all-time high
More COVID-19-positive children in the United States are being hospitalized each day than at any other point in the pandemic, according to newly updated federal data.
On average, just under 380 children with COVID-19 were admitted into the hospital daily between Dec. 22 and Dec. 28, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The country's pediatric COVID-19 hospital admission rate has nearly tripled in the past month, CDC data shows.
Nationwide, nearly 2,900 children are currently hospitalized with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 -- approximately 1,300 more patients than a month ago -- according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services.
Less than a third of eligible children -- ages 5 to 17 -- in the U.S. are currently fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Three new studies released Thursday by the CDC found COVID-19 vaccines to be safe and effective for children.
-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos
Secretary of Education says students should be in classrooms despite omicron variant
Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said Thursday that students should be back in classrooms after winter break despite the surge of the highly transmissible omicron variant.
"If you're fully staffed to provide a safe school environment, students should be in the classroom full-time, every day," he told "Good Morning America's" Whit Johnson.
"We've done this before. We did it before vaccines were available. If you recall, we re-opened schools this year right at the height of the delta variant," Cardona said.
Several school districts across the country said they will require negative tests from students before they can enter classrooms, but Cardona said he doesn't know if that's necessary.
"I do believe all students should have access to testing, but I don't know that it needs to be required," he said.
He continued, "We need to make sure they get into class safely and stay in the classroom."
-ABC News' Molly Nagle