(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.4 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 818,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
About 61.8% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Dec 28, 9:55 am
Another Broadway musical announces final performance
The Broadway musical Ain’t Too Proud will ends its run on Jan. 16, 2022. The show has been closed since Dec. 15 due to COVID-19 cases and hopes to resume Tuesday night for its final few weeks, ABC New York station WABC reported.
The musicals Jagged Little Pill and Waitress as well as the play Thoughts of a Colored Man have also announced that that they’re closing for good amid the rise in cases.
Dec 28, 8:19 am
Why Dr. Jha supports CDC’s shortened isolation period
Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, said he agrees with the CDC’s ruling to shorten isolation time from 10 days to five days for asymptomatic people with COVID-19. That must be followed by five days of mask wearing around others.
Jha told Good Morning America on Tuesday that five days is enough to stop the spread for asymptomatic people because most people are contagious in the couple days before they have symptoms and in the two to three days symptoms begin.
But Jha said he think it would “make a big difference” if the CDC required COVID-19 patients to get a negative test before leaving isolation.
“I don’t know why the CDC did not put that in — I suspect it might be because tests are still hard to come by,” he said.
Dec 28, 5:40 am
Rep. Bobby Rush tests positive for COVID
Rep. Bobby Rush, D.-Ill., said he tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday.
“Today, after being notified of a recent exposure, I tested positive with a breakthrough case of COVID-19,” Rush said in a statement. “Fortunately, I am fully vaccinated and recently received my booster shot. I am feeling fine and currently have no symptoms.”
Rush said he would begin quarantining. He encouraged everyone to get vaccinations and booster shots.
Dec 27, 8:54 pm
US saw nearly 200,000 more pediatric cases last week, a 50% increase since early December
Amidst the nation’s latest COVID-19 surge, nearly 200,000 more children tested positive for COVID-19, last week, up by about 50% since the beginning of December, according to a new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Children’s Hospital Association (CHA), released on Monday.
This week marks the twentieth consecutive week that pediatric COVID-19 case total has been above 100,000.
COVID-19 cases among children are “extremely high,” and increasing, the organizations wrote.
Children accounted for about 20% of reported weekly COVID-19 cases, last week. For context, children, under age 18, make up 22.2% of the U.S. population.
COVID-19 related hospitalizations among children are also on the rise. On average, about 260 children in the U.S. are being admitted to the hospital with COVID-19 each day, according to federal data, and nearly 2,000 children are currently hospitalized with the virus.
To date, 22.4 million children ages 5 to 17 years-old — about 42% of that population — have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Dec 27, 7:58 pm
Delta Airlines working to implement new isolation guidance
Delta Airlines announced it is working fast to implement the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest guidance to reduce the isolation period for some infected patients.
Delta was one of many airlines to call on the federal government to reduce the isolation period from 10 days to five, citing staffing shortages that led to flight cancelations.
“The updated guidance allows more flexibility for Delta to schedule crews and employees to support a busy holiday travel season and a sustained return to travel by customers,” the airline said in a statement.
Delta did not give more details as to when their new policy will take effect.
-ABC News’ Mina Kaji
Dec 27, 4:37 pm
CDC shortens recommended isolation time for some infected patients
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Monday afternoon it will shorten the recommended isolation time for some people infected with COVID-19.
Patients who are asymptomatic will have to isolate for five days, followed by five days of wearing a mask around others, under the new guidance. Previously, the isolation period was 10 days for everyone.
Individuals who have received their booster shot do not need to quarantine following an exposure, but should wear a mask for 10 days after the exposure, the CDC said.
“The Omicron variant is spreading quickly and has the potential to impact all facets of our society. CDC’s updated recommendations for isolation and quarantine balance what we know about the spread of the virus and the protection provided by vaccination and booster doses,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a statement.
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