Coronavirus live updates: Fauci says 'things will get worse as we get into January'

January 8, 2021January 8, 2021 WKXA

Samara Heisz/iStockBy MORGAN WINSOR, ERIN SCHUMAKER and EMILY SHAPIRO, ABC News

(NEW YORK) — A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now infected more than 88.2 million people worldwide and killed over 1.9 million of them, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

Here’s how the news is developing Friday. All times Eastern:

Jan 08, 10:46 am
NYC police commissioner tests positive

New York City’s police commissioner, Dermot Shea, has tested positive for COVID-19 and is “doing well,” NYPD spokesman Rich Esposito told ABC News.

Shea is at home and “running the department remotely,” he said.

Esposito said the commissioner regularly attends functions and is in close contact with people all the time.

“He takes extensive precautions, but the COVID rate is increasing in the city,” he said.

So far this month, 463 NYPD members have tested positive for COVID-19. As of Thursday, New York City’s seven-day average positivity rate stood at 9.21%.

Jan 08, 9:24 am
Hospitalizations on rise in London, mayor declares ‘major incident’

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has declared a “major incident” as the virus’ spread threatens to overwhelm the city’s hospitals.

One in 30 Londoners now has COVID-19, the mayor said.

The city has 7,034 people currently hospitalized — a 35% increase from the April peak.

The number of people in hospitals jumped by 27% from Dec. 30 to Jan. 6, Khan said.

The London Ambulance Service is now taking up to 8,000 calls per day, when an average day would bring 5,500 calls.

“The stark reality is that we will run out of beds for patients in the next couple of weeks unless the spread of the virus slows down drastically,” Khan said. “We are declaring a major incident because the threat this virus poses to our city is at crisis point. If we do not take immediate action now, our NHS could be overwhelmed and more people will die.”