COVID-19 live updates: US reaches 50 million confirmed cases

(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.3 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 798,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

About 60.8% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Latest headlines:

-US reaches 50 million confirmed cases

-US daily cases up 85% since October

-Omicron appears to spread faster and vaccine less effective against it, WHO says

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

Dec 13, 4:09 pm

164,000 new pediatric cases reported last week

Last week, another 164,000 children in the U.S. tested positive for COVID-19, up by 24% from the week prior, according to a report released Monday from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association.

COVID-19 cases among children are “extremely high,” the organizations wrote.

Last week the Northeast saw its highest number of pediatric cases since the onset of the pandemic, with nearly 40,000 new cases.

So far, 21 million children ages 5 to 17 — about 39.6% — have received at least one vaccine dose.

Severe illness due to COVID-19 remains “uncommon” among children, the two organizations wrote in the report. But AAP and CHA continue to warn that there is an urgent need to collect more data on the long-term consequences of the pandemic on kids, including the physical, emotional and mental health impacts.

ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos

Dec 13, 3:28 pm

US reaches 50 million confirmed cases

A total of 50 million COVID-19 cases have now been confirmed in the U.S., according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The U.S. has reported more cases than any other nation in the world. The U.S. currently represents nearly one-fifth of the globe’s total 270.5 million cases.

ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos

Dec 13, 2:59 pm

US daily cases up 85% since October

In the weeks following Thanksgiving, the COVID-19 resurgence in the U.S. has escalated rapidly.

The U.S. is averaging more than 118,000 new cases each day — up by about 41.8% in the last two weeks and up nearly 85% since late October, according to federal data.

Six states with some of the nation’s highest vaccination rates are also among the states with the highest new case rates: New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island and New York. Experts say cases could be rising in the Northeast partially due to people heading inside in the cold weather.

Daily COVID-19-related hospital admissions increased by 14.4% in the last week and jumped by 48% in the last month, according to federal data.

Pediatric admissions are up by 23.8% in the last week.

ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos

Dec 13, 1:07 pm

Omicron expected to be dominant variant in London within 48 hours

Omicron is expected to be the dominant variant in London in the next 48 hours, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Sajid Javid, warned in a statement to Parliament Monday.

Omicron represents 20% of England’s cases and 44% of London’s cases, Javid said.

“No variant of COVID-19 has spread this fast,” Javid said.

Ten people with omicron are in U.K. hospitals.

“Hospitalizations and deaths lag infections by around two weeks,” Javid said, “So we can expect those numbers to dramatically increase in the days and weeks that lie ahead.”

“In preparation, the UK’s four Chief Medical Officers raised the COVID Alert level to 4, its second-highest level, this was done over the weekend. And NHS England has just announced it will return to its highest level of emergency preparedness: Level 4 National Incident,” Javid said. “This means the NHS response to Omicron will be a coordinated as a national effort, rather than led by individual trusts.”

Javid also urged people to get booster doses, stating that 40% of adults in the U.K. have gotten boosters so far.

ABC News’ Zoe Magee