December 29 coronavirus pandemic and Omicron variant news

By Rhea Mogul, Adam Renton, Tara John and Ed Upright, CNN

Updated 1:01 AM ET, Thu December 30, 2021
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1:26 p.m. ET, December 29, 2021

Chicago vaccine requirement for restaurants and gyms will go into effect Monday

From CNN’s Carma Hassan

The city of Chicago will implement a vaccine requirement starting Monday, Business Affairs and Consumer Protection Acting Commissioner Ken Meyer announced Wednesday.

“As we've seen over the course of this holiday season, Covid-19 cases continued to rise. So in response, on Monday, January 3, the Chicago vaccine requirement will go into effect to slow the spread of Covid-19 and to help us continue our path to recovery,” Meyer said.

Anyone age five and up will be required to show proof of vaccination in order to dine indoors, visit gyms, or go to entertainment venues where food or drinks are being served.

Additionally, anyone over the age of 16 will need to show identification to compare with their vaccination card, Meyer said.

“The vaccine requirement is a collaborative effort that prioritizes the health of Chicagoans. This is a necessary and intentional policy, which in fact has already been placed voluntarily by many establishments in the hospitality and performing arts industry thus far,” Meyer said. “The new order will standardize health protocols across businesses and industries.”

12:58 p.m. ET, December 29, 2021

CDC director outlines what the new quarantine and isolation recommendations mean for you

From CNN's Maggie Fox

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, tried Wednesday to lay out what her agency’s new quarantine and isolation guidelines mean for individual Americans.

The CDC released new guidelines cutting in half the recommendations for how long people should isolate after being infected with Covid-19 and how long they should quarantine if exposed. Walensky tried to clarify these at a White House coronavirus update Wednesday and added simplified definitions.

“Let me walk you through exactly what these new recommendations mean for you. First, isolation refers to what you do when you have Covid-19, most likely diagnosed by a positive test. Isolation prevents those who are known to be infected from transmitting the virus to others,” she said.

“Quarantine, on the other hand, is different. This is what you do when you have been exposed to someone who has disease and are unsure if you yourself were infected. Quarantine prevents further spread of the virus in the time before someone may develop symptoms or from those who are asymptomatic from their infection,” she added.

“If you're infected with SARS-CoV-2, regardless of your vaccination status, you should isolate for five days. During periods of isolation, it's best for you to wear a mask around those in your household to avoid spreading the virus at home,” she said. “After five days, if you're asymptomatic or if your symptoms have largely resolved, you may leave isolation as long as you continue to wear a mask around others, even in the home, for an additional five days.”

Quarantine for people exposed to the virus depends on whether people are fully vaccinated or boosted.

“If you are boosted or have been vaccinated with your Pfizer or Moderna series in the past six months or your J&J shot in the past two months, no quarantine is needed. However, a mask must be worn for 10 days following your known exposure. And we also recommend getting a test on day five after your exposure,” Walensky said.

“If you're not vaccinated or you were vaccinated with your Pfizer or Moderna series over six months ago or with J&J over two months ago and have not yet received your booster, you should quarantine for five days following your last exposure. After five days, you should continue masking around others for an additional five days, and you should also get a test at day five,” she said.

“If it's not possible for you to quarantine, it is really important that you do the right thing and wear a mask at all times around others for 10 days after your exposure. Here, we also emphasize that you should get a test at day five. And if at any point you develop symptoms of Covid-19 during your quarantine period for your 10 days after exposure — like fevers, runny nose, a cough, headaches or body aches — you should get a test and isolate until your test results return. And of course, then isolate if your test returns positive.”

The CDC did not include many recommendations for using quick at-home tests because it’s not clear that they tell whether a person is likely to transmit the virus to others, Walensky said.

“On the other hand, we know that after five days, people are much less likely to transmit the virus and that masking further reduces that risk. And this is why people need to mask for five days after their five days of isolation. This science, as well as what we know about the protection provided by masking, vaccination and booster doses and about our testing programs, are all part of what informed our updated recommendations.”

12:57 p.m. ET, December 29, 2021

UK health agency: Omicron variant now accounts for over 90% of all community Covid-19 cases in England

From CNN's Niamh Kennedy

The data shows the Omicron variant now accounts for more than 90% of community Covid-19 cases recorded in England, the UK's public health agency said in a tweet.

An additional 39,923 cases of the variant were recorded in the UK on Wednesday by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). 

The London region has so far recorded the highest number of Omicron cases in England with a total of 45,245 cases. 

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson played down concerns regarding the threat of the variant during a visit to a vaccination center Wednesday, saying that Omicron is "obviously milder than Delta." 

Johnson attributed England's ability to "go ahead with New Year in the cautious way that we are,” to the high uptake of the booster vaccine. 

12:44 p.m. ET, December 29, 2021

Italy sets a new daily record of Covid-19 infections, government data shows

From CNN’s Nicola Ruotolo

A medical staffer takes a nasal swab for a COVID-19 rapid test at a pharmacy in Rome, Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2021. 
A medical staffer takes a nasal swab for a COVID-19 rapid test at a pharmacy in Rome, Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2021.  (Cecilia Fabiano/LaPresse/AP)

Italy announced Wednesday that there were at least 98,030 new Covid-19 infections over the past 24 hours, a new daily record for the country.

The number of dead from the virus grew by 136, according to data released by the health ministry.

12:41 p.m. ET, December 29, 2021

Fauci to Americans: Cancel your large-scale New Year's Eve party "hugging and kissing"

From CNN's Betsy Klein

The 2022 sign that will be lit on top of a building on New Year's Eve is displayed in Times Square, New York, on Monday, Dec. 20.
The 2022 sign that will be lit on top of a building on New Year's Eve is displayed in Times Square, New York, on Monday, Dec. 20. (Seth Wenig/AP)

Dr. Anthony Fauci warned Americans against attending large-scale New Year’s Eve celebrations this year, suggesting that people opt for smaller gatherings with vaccinated and boosted family and friends as the Omicron variant spreads across the country.

“If you were in a situation with a family setting, in your home, with family — parents, children, grandparents — and everyone is vaccinated and boosted, although the risk is never zero in anything, the risk is low enough that we feel you should continue to go through with those plans of having a home-related, vaccinated, boosted gathering with family and close friends who are also vaccinated and boosted,” the President’s top medical adviser told reporters during the White House’s Covid-19 response team briefing Wednesday.

But, Fauci added, “If your plans are to go to a 40-to-50 person New Year's Eve party with all the bells and whistles and everybody hugging and kissing and wishing each other a Happy New Year? I would strongly recommend that, this year, we do not do that.”

12:26 p.m. ET, December 29, 2021

White House expects contract to purchase 500 million at-home Covid-19 tests "to be completed late next week"

From CNN's DJ Judd

Workers distribute free rapid at-home Covid-19 test kits at a vaccine clinic in Philadelphia, last week.
Workers distribute free rapid at-home Covid-19 test kits at a vaccine clinic in Philadelphia, last week. (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg/Getty Images)

White House Covid-19 Response Director Jeff Zients told CNN’s Jeremey Diamond Wednesday that the administration expects the contract for purchasing 500 million at-home rapid Covid-19 tests “to be completed late next week,” adding that the Departments of Health and Human Services and Defense “are executing on an accelerated contracting timeline” to speed up distribution. 

“That means that the first deliveries from manufacturers will start in January, we'll set up a free and easy system, including a new website, to get these tests out to Americans,” Zients told Jeremy during Wednesday’s White House Covid-19 Response briefing. “We're actively working to finalize that distribution mechanism, which includes a website where people will be able to order tests for free, and we'll share more details in the weeks ahead — days and weeks ahead.”

As CNN reported earlier Wednesday, the inability to secure enough timely tests for the number of people who want them has led to a new reckoning for Biden's Covid-19 response, while delays in launching the administration’s 500 million test purchase led to major disruptions to holiday travel and frustrations around the availability of testing.

Walking along the seafront in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, Biden said on Tuesday that he'd made "a bit of progress" in distributing the new tests. But he didn't expand on how far along the program was.

Pressed Wednesday on the dearth of available tests, Zients pointed to the administration’s efforts to ease testing shortages through federally-run testing sites in major cities. 

“Obviously, demand is stronger in certain areas, even higher,” Zients said, “and in those areas, we're supplementing, as you know, with federally run testing sites that we've set up in New York City, as I mentioned, we're doing the same in Philadelphia, New Jersey, and Washington, DC, and we're continuing to work with states to add those federally-run testing sites where needed, but tests are available online, and in many local pharmacies, the rapid, at-home tests.”
12:22 p.m. ET, December 29, 2021

Fauci reiterates domestic travel vaccine requirement remains "on the table" but not necessary at this time

From CNN's Betsy Klein

Travelers pass through Salt Lake City International Airport on Friday, Dec. 24, 2021.
Travelers pass through Salt Lake City International Airport on Friday, Dec. 24, 2021. (Rick Bowmer/AP)

Dr. Anthony Fauci reiterated Wednesday that the idea of a domestic US travel vaccination requirement remains on the table as the Omicron variant spreads across the US, but suggested it was not necessary at this time.

“Everything that is an intervention is always on the table and always discussed, and we discuss it regularly,” Fauci, who is director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told reporters during Wednesday’s White House Covid-19 response team briefing.

Fauci explained that an international travel vaccine requirement was made to help prevent infection and new variants from spreading in the US. A domestic travel vaccine requirement, he said, is different.

“Right now, we feel that the masking requirements and the degree of filtration on a plane is sufficient to keep people safe,” he said.

But he left the door open to a future requirement should the situation – and the science – change.

“If there’s a need to do more beyond this masking, namely, having a vaccine issue, we will seriously consider that as new information arises. So it’s just keeping an open mind that the situation may change, but at this particular time, we do not feel that it is necessary to make that a requirement for domestic flights,” Fauci said. 

Fauci had said earlier this week that such a requirement should be “seriously considered.” But President Biden indicated Tuesday he would only make the decision if he got that recommendation from his medical team. Biden's chief of staff Ron Klain indicated there will not be any change to the current policy before the argument on workplace vaccine mandates goes before the Supreme Court in January.

12:27 p.m. ET, December 29, 2021

White House outlines federal support to ramp up Covid-19 testing and treatment across the US

From CNN's Betsy Klein

People wait in line at a testing site to receive a free COVID-19 PCR test in Farragut Square on December 28, 2021 in Washington, DC.
People wait in line at a testing site to receive a free COVID-19 PCR test in Farragut Square on December 28, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

White House Covid-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients offered some new details on federal support for Covid-19 testing and treatment across the country during a briefing Wednesday. 

The Biden administration’s Covid-19 response team, Zients said, has been working “hand-in-hand with governors and local health officials across the country to assess and address needs on the ground,” something President Biden reiterated to the nation’s governors earlier this week.

“Our message for governors around the country is simple: if you need something, say something and we will mobilize quickly to get you the resources you need,” Zients added.

In New York, he said, 60 FEMA medical personnel and 30 ambulances arrived last week to help transport patients to hospitals around the states. FEMA has also established nine federally-run testing sites in New York City, with three more opening Sunday.

In Arizona, 20 FEMA paramedics began providing clinical support starting Dec. 24, with 40 more personnel arriving next week to assist with treatment in Maricopa and Pima counties and tribal communities. 

In Indiana, Zients said, 23 military medical personnel started their mission on Christmas Day at University Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis.

In New Mexico, 15 medical personnel from the US Public Health Services Commissioned Corps arrived Monday to provide surge support in Indian country, with 15 ventilators being sent to the state Wednesday and 12 federal personnel arriving next week to assist with vaccinations.

A 23-person military medical team starts supporting Belen Hospital in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Friday.

A federally-run free testing site will open in New Jersey on New Year’s Day, with additional testing sites opening in Philadelphia and Washington, DC, in the “next several days.”

Additionally, he added, 1 million gloves, 342,000 masks, respirators, and face shields, and 40,000 gowns have been shipped to states “in the past couple of weeks alone.”

“We’ve been working around the clock to surge reinforcements to communities as they battle Omicron, helping to staff hospitals, administer monoclonal antibody treatments, transport patients, add testing capacity, and get more PPE to where it is needed, and you’ll see us continue to act aggressively to address the communities’ needs in the days and weeks ahead,” Zients said.

11:30 a.m. ET, December 29, 2021

Spain reduces quarantine for those who test positive for Covid-19 to 7 days

From CNN's Al Goodman in Madrid

The President of the Government, Pedro Sanchez, presents the accountability report of the Government of Spain for 2021, 'Cumpliendo', at La Moncloa, on 29 December, 2021 Madrid, Spain.
The President of the Government, Pedro Sanchez, presents the accountability report of the Government of Spain for 2021, 'Cumpliendo', at La Moncloa, on 29 December, 2021 Madrid, Spain. (Eduardo Parra/Europa Press/Getty Images)

The Spanish government has reduced the quarantine time for people who tested positive for Covid-19 from 10 to seven days, the country’s health ministry said Wednesday. 

The duration of quarantine for unvaccinated people who were in close contact with positive cases is also reduced to seven days, the ministry said in a statement.  

The government has not clarified when the new isolation requirements will be in place. 

Ahead of the announcement, during his traditional end-of-year speech in Madrid, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said this decision would be “very important to many citizens.”

Spain's Health Minister met with the health department chiefs from the regional governments Wednesday afternoon to discuss details.