As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.6 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 883,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
About 63.7% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Utah Sen. Mitt Romney tested positive for COVID-19 Friday, his office said.
"He is currently asymptomatic and will be isolating and working remotely for the recommended period of time," his office said.
His wife, Ann Romney, has tested negative for the virus. Both are fully vaccinated and boosted, his office said.
About 60 million American households have ordered 240 million free at-home COVID rapid tests since they became available on Jan. 18, White House officials said Friday.
The Biden administration plans to ultimately mail 1 billion free at-home rapid tests to Americans.
Additionally, the federal government has sent out "tens of millions of masks” since Biden announced last week that the government would provide 400 million N95 masks for free at pharmacies and community health centers across the country, White House principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
-ABC News' Ben Gittleson
Federal data shows that the U.S. is now reporting an average of almost 600,000 new cases per day -- a nearly 25% drop in the last two weeks, according to federal data.
Just nine states are reporting at least a 10% increase in cases: Alaska, Idaho, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Washington and West Virginia.
All other states and territories are reporting a decrease in new cases or are at a plateau.
Nationwide, hospitalization rates are also declining, according to federal data. Just under 145,000 COVID-19-positive patients are currently in U.S. hospitals, down from 160,000 patients reported last week.
It's not clear how many of these patients were admitted to the hospital for COVID-19 and how many coincidentally tested positive for the virus after they were admitted for other reasons.
The national daily death average now stands at nearly 2,300 -- a 30% jump in the last two weeks.
-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos
San Francisco officials are ending indoor mask mandates for “stable cohorts” where everyone is up to date on vaccinations, like people in an office or gym setting.
The city's health officer Dr. Susan Philip called this change, which begins Feb. 1, doable due to San Francisco's highly vaccinated and boosted population.
"Other COVID-19 safety guidelines in these settings remain in effect and include a means for others who do not or cannot meet the vaccination requirements to join the group with the added safety of showing a negative test and wearing a mask," San Francisco's health department said.
-ABC News' Matt Fuhrman
Crisis standards of care have been adopted in much of southern Idaho, as hospitals grapple with a surge in COVID-19 patients.
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, citing severe staffing and blood supply shortages, activated crisis standards of care on Monday for the southwest, central and south central public health districts, which encompass 18 counties including the Boise, Nampa and Twin Falls metropolitan areas. Crisis standards of care provide legal and ethical guidelines for how health care providers should allocate scarce, life-saving resources, such as ventilators and intensive care unit beds, during an overwhelming public health emergency.
"The highly contagious Omicron variant has thrown us a curve ball," Idaho Department of Health and Welfare Director Dave Jeppesen said in a statement Monday. "Once again, the situation in our hospitals and health systems is dire -- we don't have enough resources to adequately treat patients."
It was the second time amid the coronavirus pandemic that the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare has activated crisis standards of care. Health care rationing was authorized in northern Idaho last September before being extended to the entire state 10 days later. The guidelines were fully deactivated by the end of December.
The latest activation came in response to a request from Saint Alphonsus Health System, which has hospitals in southwestern Idaho as well as eastern Oregon. Jeppesen convened Idaho's crisis standards of care activation advisory committee last Friday, and the committee recommended that the guidelines be activated statewide. Jeppesen decided to only make the designation for southern Idaho, but said other parts of the state will likely be added if current COVID-19 trends continue.
Jeppesen urged residents to get vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19 and to wear high-quality face masks in public places.
"Omicron is so much more contagious than previous variants, and even though a lower percentage of cases are ending up in the hospital, the record number of cases is still putting strain on our healthcare system," he said.
