one in five are covid-19 patients. i m worried that the surge in the coming weeks will be worse than what we saw last winter. reporter: meanwhile, south africa has passed the peak of its omicron outbreak. there is some evidence that in south africa, where a lot of this started, that it s dropping off. reporter: health officials stress the antiviral pills are not a substitute for getting vaccinated. let s be clear. unvaccinated people are at a hi higher risk of getting severely ill from covid, getting hospitalized, and dying. reporter: and underscoring just how rapidly omicron is spreading, new york saying that it has broken its own record again for the fifth time in less than a week with the highest daily total of covid-19 cases. cases up 24% from the previous record, wolf. amara walker reporting for
the nhl and its players association have been discussing the matter. most major american sports leagues, including the nhl, are seeing more players and team staff testing positive each day. as cnn s brian todd reports, the coronavirus is proving to be the toughest opponent yet. it s the raiders and the browns. reporter: tonight the world s most popular sports leagues are flailing, struggling to figure out when they can hold contests and if their schedules can even survive the winter and the omicron outbreak. it is moving fast. it s moving fast in the world, and it s moving fast in sports. and while there is a bit of a playbook now for how the leagues have dealt with it, different than in march 2020, omicron is proving to move through these locker rooms and these teams at a much higher rate of speed. reporter: the national hockey league has just paused its entire schedule for a few days until just after christmas, after covid outbreaks affected several teams.
have been rising too. 0ur health correspondent, sophie hutchinson, reports from lambeth in south london which has seen the highest covid rates in the uk brixton high street in lambeth, currently the borough at the epicentre of the uk s omicron outbreak. infections here are rocketing. we ve got more cases than anywhere in the whole country. no way! u nfortu nately. do you know people who ve got the infection? yeah, a lot of them. yes, my cousin, my brother, my friends. i yes, my cousin, my brother, my friends. ., friends. i don t get frightened easil b friends. i don t get frightened easily by staff, friends. i don t get frightened easily by staff, and i - friends. i don t get frightened easily by staff, and i know - friends. i don t get frightened j easily by staff, and i know it s ridiculous, but easily by staff, and i know it s ridiculous, but i easily by staff, and i know it s ridiculous, but i feel- easily by staff, and i know it s ridiculous, but i feel immunel ridiculous, b
furthermore, i want to go off of kennedy s point. i don t think it s alcohol that s the problem. harris, you mentioned we are in the middle of a omicron outbreak. with the ceo of southwest saying masks and airplanes don t do that much. filtration systems are great. i m not saying we need to give up mask on airplanes, although i would love that route. we need to get to point to be honest about it. the arbitrary lifted up and put it back on. you re chewing something or drinking something. up down, up down. you can chew on something slowly. we ve got to the point where the rules have been so strict and the flight attendants and force it more than others. people don t know what to do. they don t know if they can breathe on airplanes anymore. it leads to a lot of hostility and a lot of anxiety. we are all dealing with it. harris: you bring up great points. the whole mask thing, and i m going to take this for the drink. the science is a challenged spirits only need to explain about her. wh
to october, when on earth are we going to get the money that is owed to us right now because of the restrictions that are being put in place that effectively close our doors? perhaps the most crushing thing of all for business is the day to day uncertainty. the chancellor might argue that the unpredictability of the virus is something beyond even his control. simon jack, bbc news. experts say the official covid data in the next few days and weeks will be crucial. london is being monitored closely. it s been at the centre of the outbreak in the uk, with surging cases in some areas driven largely by people in their 20s. hospital admissions have been rising, too. our health correspondent sophie hutchinson reports from lambeth in south london, which has seen the highest covid rates in the uk. brixton high street in lambeth, currently the borough at the epicentre of the uk s omicron outbreak. infections here are rocketing. we ve got more cases than anywhere in the whole country in lambeth.