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
White House: Unvaccinated are 'looking at a winter of severe illness and death'
White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients warned Friday that the unvaccinated are "looking at a winter of severe illness and death -- for yourselves, your families and the hospitals you may soon overwhelm."
CDC director Rochelle Walensky said she expects omicron to become the dominant variant in the coming weeks.
Asked whether the CDC will change its guidance on vaccinated people quarantining after exposure, which they currently don't have to, Walensky said, "We are actively following the science in that area, with regard to how the viral burden is both among vaccinated people and unvaccinated people, and the natural history of that viral burden with regard to isolation."
"And as that science emerges, we will update our evidence if need be," she said.
-ABC News' Cheyenne Haslett