COVID-19 updates: LA has highest daily death total since April

There are over 4,300 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Los Angeles County.

As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.5 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 849,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

About 62.9% 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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Feds buy more monoclonal treatment that fights omicron

The U.S. government is buying 600,000 more doses of sotrovimab, the only the monoclonal antibody treatment expected to hold up against omicron, according to the drug makers, GlaxoSmithKline and Vir Biotechnology.

These doses are set to be delivered to the government over the next two months, the drug makers said.

This brings total sotrovimab doses purchased by the federal government to approximately 1 million.

Short supply of sotrovimab has been a growing concern for the White House as omicron spreads.

Until recently the government had not invested in buying bulk stock of sotrovimab, as it has with other monoclonal treatments. The government spent billions buying Regeneron and Eli Lilly's products to ensure there would be enough supply, but both of those may not hold up against omicron.

-ABC News' Sasha Pezenik


Florida sees over 126,000 cases in 1 weekend

Florida reported 126,704 new COVID-19 cases this weekend, ABC Miami affiliate WPLG reported, citing CDC data.

Orlando opened a new testing site Monday at Camping World Stadium.


United cuts flights, 3,000 employees out with COVID-19

About 3,000 United Airlines workers currently have COVID-19, though none are in the hospital, the airline said.

On one recent day, one-third of all United Airlines employees at Newark Airport called in sick, the airline said.

United CEO Scott Kirby said the airline is cutting its near-term flight schedule to ensure they have enough staffing.

Kirby added that, prior to the vaccine requirement, United had one employee die each week from COVID-19.

-ABC News' Sam Sweeney


3 cities, 20 million people under lockdown in China

Some 20 million people across three Chinese cities are now under lockdown due to COVID-19 outbreaks.

Anyang, home to 5.5 million people, was the latest city to lock down its residents after discovering two cases of the fast-spreading omicron variant. Another 13 million people are under lock down in Xi'ian and 1.1 million in Yuzhou, with both cities still battling the highly contagious delta variant. Neither has reported any cases of omicron.

Meanwhile, restrictions have been imposed in the port city of Tianjin, about 80 miles southeast of Beijing, which is to host the 2022 Winter Olympics next month. The city's 14 million people are being tested for COVID-19 after two locally transmitted cases of omicron were detected over the weekend -- the first for mainland China.

-ABC News' Karson Yiu


West Virginia's governor says he feels 'extremely unwell' after testing positive for COVID-19

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice announced Tuesday evening that he tested positive for COVID-19 and is experiencing moderate symptoms.

Justice, 70, who is fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and has received a booster shot, said he has started a course of monoclonal antibody treatment, as recommended by his physicians. Everyone who has been in close contact with the governor over the past few days is being notified. His wife, Cathy Justice, tested negative for the virus on Tuesday evening, according to a press release from the governor's office.

The governor was scheduled to deliver his State of the State address that night but was forced to do so via a written statement to the West Virginia Legislature instead.

"I feel extremely unwell at this point, and I have no choice but to postpone my State of the State address to the Legislature," Justice said in a statement Tuesday evening. "I woke up this morning with congestion and a cough. A little while later, I developed a headache and fever, so I decided to get tested right away."

"The rapid test that I took came back negative, but by the late afternoon, my symptoms were still getting much worse," he continued. "My blood pressure and heart rate were extremely elevated, and I had a high fever. Finally, my PCR test results this evening confirmed I was positive. Because of all this, I began receiving my antibody treatment and I hope this will lessen these symptoms."