COVID-19 live updates: Omicron and its sublineages accounting for 100% of new cases

(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.8 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 920,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

About 64.4% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Feb 15, 1:12 pm

US hospitalizations, cases keep dropping

The number of COVID-19-positive patients in U.S. hospitals is declining with the same momentum that it surged in early winter. There are now 78,000 Americans with COVID-19 in hospitals; that number was twice as high — 160,000 patients — during the nation’s peak on Jan. 20, according to federal data.

The U.S. daily case rate has dropped to 161,000 — down by 80% since last month’s peak, according to federal data.

However, experts continue to caution that the U.S. is not out of the woods. Case levels remain much higher than the nation’s previous surges, with the U.S. reporting millions of new cases every week and 98% of U.S. counties reporting high transmission. Also, experts point out that many Americans taking at-home tests are not submitting their results, so case totals may be higher than reported.

-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos

Feb 15, 12:45 pm

Omicron and its sublineages accounting for 100% of new cases

The omicron variant and its sublineages are estimated to account for 100% of new infections, according to the CDC.

So far, data suggests there are no major differences between the omicron subvariants, but scientists are monitoring them closely.

The original omicron variant is estimated to account for 22.9% of new COVID-19 cases in the U.S.

A closely related sublineage, BA.1.1, has been the dominant strain since early January and is now estimated to account for 73.2% of new COVID-19 cases.

A second sublineage, BA.2, accounts for an estimated 3.9% of new COVID-19 cases in the U.S., according to the CDC.

-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos

Feb 15, 11:56 am

Surgeon General’s 4-year-old daughter tests positive

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said his 4-year-old daughter tested positive for COVID-19 this weekend.

At age 4, she’s too young to qualify for the vaccine.

He said she’s had a fever and sore throat but is breathing fine.

Murthy tweeted, “Trying to isolate a small child from her 5 y/o brother and parents in a small home is pretty tough. Which is why I’m grateful that my son, my wife, and I are all vaccinated. Even if we contract the virus, it’s unlikely to cause severe illness.”

“Few things are worse than worrying about your child’s health. The more we all get vaccinated and take precautions, the more we can protect all our kids,” he continued. “I wish a vaccine was available for my child and for all kids. It would protect kids and help parents. Unfortunately more data is still needed from clinical trials for the FDA to make a full assessment.”

“Staring at my daughter’s positive test, I asked myself the same questions many parents have asked: Will my child be ok? Could I have done more to protect her? Was this my fault? In these moments, it doesn’t matter if you’re a doctor or Surgeon General,” he wrote. “Parenting during the pandemic has been one of the hardest jobs I could have imagined. I have immense respect for the millions of parents who are grappling with the daily, exhausting decision-making that goes into protecting our kids’ health and their education.”

Feb 14, 4:21 pm

Pediatric cases keep falling but more than half of eligible kids remain unvaccinated

After the U.S. reported an unprecedented number of pediatric COVID-19 cases in January, for the third week in a row, new COVID-19 cases among children have dropped.

Last week less than 300,000 children tested positive for COVID-19, down from the peak level of 1,150,000 pediatric cases during the week ending Jan. 20, according to new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association.

However, the organizations continue to warn that pediatric infections are “extremely high,” with numbers still above the peak level of the delta surge in summer 2021.

Child COVID-19 cases “spiked dramatically” during the omicron surge, with more than 4.5 million children testing positive in 2022.

It has been more than three months since every American child over the age of 5 became eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. However, 51.1% of eligible children remain unvaccinated.

ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos