INDIANAPOLIS — Here are Saturday's latest updates on the coronavirus pandemic, including the latest news on COVID-19 vaccinations and testing in Indiana.
Registrations for the vaccine are now open for Hoosiers 5 and older through the Indiana State Department of Health. This story will be updated over the course of the day with more news on the COVID-19 pandemic.
Latest US, world numbers
There have been more than 52.04 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States as of 6:30 a.m. Saturday, according to Johns Hopkins University. There have been more than 816,400 deaths recorded in the U.S.
Worldwide, there have been more than 279.01 million confirmed coronavirus cases with more than 5.39 million deaths and more than 8.92 billion vaccine doses administered worldwide.
For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness like pneumonia, or death.
FDA grants EUA for Roche Diagnostics at-home COVID test
The FDA granted emergency use authorization Friday for an at-home COVID-19 test developed by Roche Diagnostics.
The test is for individuals ages 2 and older and can be collected and tested at home via nasal swab, with results in 20 minutes. According to Roche, the test gives results for all COVID-19 variants, including omicron.
The FDA prioritized authorizing the test kits after President Joe Biden announced a plan to send 500 million at-home rapid tests to American homes next year. The pharmaceutical company said the tests will be made available across the United States in January, and it has the capacity to produce tens of millions of tests each month.
The tests will be produced in partnership with SD Biosensor Inc., which has previously launched similar antigen tests in other countries. This is the first time Roche has received emergency use authorization for a rapid antigen COVID test.
US lifting travel ban on 8 southern African countries put in place over omicron concerns
The U.S. will lift travel restrictions to eight southern African countries on New Year's Eve, the White House announced Friday.
The restrictions, imposed last month, were meant to blunt the spread of the COVID omicron variant.
The Nov. 29 ban barred nearly all non-U.S. citizens who had recently been in South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi.
White House spokesman Kevin Munoz said on Twitter that the decision was recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Munoz said the temporary travel bans bought scientists necessary time to study the new virus variant and conclude that the current vaccinations are effective in blunting its impact.