of two more events at the olympic games. the strain of the delta variant on america s health care system is already beginning to be felt in the hospitals. a grim sequel to the darkest days of the pandemic. an average 67,000 new cases turning up daily and trending higher. a year ago, new cases were at about the same level but trending down. the centers for disease control says the delta variant is as contagious as chickenpox and can cause severe illness. unlike earlier variants, a single case of delta has the potential to infect many more people. health experts say the unvaccinated are, of course, at most risk. and right now that s about half of american adults. unless those vaccination numbers come up soon, u.s. president joe biden says tighter restrictions are likely. in all probability by the way, we had a good day yesterday. almost a million people got vaccinated. about half a million of those people for the first time. i m hopeful that people are beginning to realiz
and covid won t stop play. the english premier league will continue over christmas despite rising infections amongst its players hello and welcome. omicron now makes up nearly three quarters of new coronavirus cases in america. president biden will outline plans to tackle the variant later today. outside the us, more countries have introduced restrictions to deal with rising cases. mark lobel reports. texas was bracing itself for an micron storm. now it reports what is believed to be the usa s first related death. look how quickly over the past week in the states omicron in purple here has taken over the delta variant, represented in orange, in new cases. variant, represented in orange, in new cam- in new cases. three, two, one, ha . . in new cases. three, two, one, happy new in new cases. three, two, one, happy new year! in new cases. three, two, one, happy new year! so in new cases. three, two, one, happy new year! so is - in new cases. three, two, one, happy new year
let s start with the us, because after nearly two years many travellers will be breathing a huge sigh of relief after the country reopened its borders to international tourists. in total 33 countries from monday, including the likes of the uk, eu and india, will benefit from the easing of travel restictions but only if they are fully vaccinated. according to the world travel and tourism council, the us economy has endured monthly losses of around $1.2 billion due to the travel ban. but bookings are taking off with delta air lines saying it s seen a a50% surge in international bookings since mid september. stephanie boyle is global head of industry & partners at skyscanner. with international tourism to the us what have you seen in terms of this response and desire to go to the us? this is a to the us? this is a huge to the us? this is a huge moment to the us? this is a huge moment for to the us? this is a huge moment for the us. we knew it was coming, it is an important relat
you are live in the cnn newsroom. i m paula reid in washington. new details this hour about the suspect charged with murdering four university of idaho students in their beds seven weeks away. cnn has learned his father was with him as he dropped across country for the holidays after the crime took place. police began tracking them at some point during the trip. the suspect is now charged with four counts of murder in the first degrees. he s expected to waive extradition and return to idaho. cnn s jean coasarez is there. reporter: when i spot to hi attorney, he told me he believes they arrived in pennsylvania, the home their home, about december 17th. well, cnn has also spoken with someone and actually corroborated with two people that, along the trip, but it was in pennsylvania, that on december 16th, that they were at an auto repair shop. this person tells cnn they were getting some work done on the hyundai elantra. that s the white car, and that the suspect the def