there? yeah, fred, the focus really is on how to restart schools safely this week. l.a. unified, the second largest district in the country starts in-person class on tuesday. that s why you see a very long line behind me. i m at one of their middle schools. they have a lot of testing sites that have been open this past week, especially this weekend because they are requiring a baseline test result, a negative test result from all students and employees in order to show up on tuesday. that is part of their strategy along with weekly required testing for everyone, required vaccinations for employ eds, about 90% of their students 12 and older are now fully vaccinated so with those strategies this school year, they have not had to shut down any of their 1,000-plus school campuses to go virtual at all. they have been in person and this is working for them. at the same time you re talking about a rise in the number of child hospitalizations. we talked to dr. susan wu from
record set almost a year ago of 142,000 hospitalizations. even more concerning, child hospitalizations are hitting new records as the omicron variant spreads. cnn s polo sandoval is watching all of this unfold for us. so, polo, what is the latest? reporter: fred, it s clear that federal health authorities are urging those who have not yet boosted after they have completed their initial series to get boosted as soon as they can. that s one of the reasons why the fda and cdc has amended that emergency use authorization that s been standing for some time, basically shortening that period of time from the initial vaccine series up to to that moment when they have to get the booster. now at five months versus the original six. so that s certainly something that they hope will lead to an increase in vaccination numbers and, of course, number of people being boosted because when you look at the number of hospitalizations, certainly continues to increase and the results have been staffing
celebrations like this one could mean a sobering start to 2022, as the omicron variant tears through the country at an astonishing pace. covid tests for those who can find one keep bringing bad tidings. the u.s. has already smashed another daily count record. experts worry it will bring a tidal wave of hospitalization comm admissions. right now, child hospitalizations are all-time high, and schools are torn how to move forward safely. massachusetts has denied a teachers union request to close schools on monday for covid testing, but in washington, d.c., students must produce a negative test to return to school. and returning home from the holidays is proving to be an issue. people learning that air travel, right now, airlines have cancelled 11,000 flights since christmas eve. the faa says it may be having to
details about novak djokovic s appeal. and an eerie calm settling over kazakhstan, after the president gave a shoot to kill order to quell the protests. okay. we begin in the u.s., because that s where covid cases are soaring to record levels. driven by the super contagious omicron variant. infections are now averaging more than 660,000 per day. this map gives you a sense of the dramatic spread across the nation, with cases surging in nearly every state. child hospitalizations are at an all-time high as well. some of the largest increases are in children under 5 who are not authorized to be vaccinated yet. hospitalizations in that group are up 48% from a little more
going anywhere, that established itself in the human population and you re going to get it at one time or another. you might want to time it better when it s not a busy week for you or going on vacation, but it s something we ll all eventually get. i ve been saying this from the beginning, this virus is going to be something that all of us eventually get infected with. the key is to be infected with it after you re vaccinated so it s not something that has you calling your doctor or needing to go to the emergency department. so i m not crazy for coming into work right now. let me ask you a question about people who have this also applies to me and other people as well, people who have kids who can t get vaccinated. i know everybody should be talking to their own pediatrician to get a sense of where their kids are at. that being said, when we talk about child hospitalizations, severe illnesses with children, are we talking about otherwise healthy children who are getting very sick f