Thursday morning news - January 6, 2022

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kent Covington. 

Omicron now accounts for 95% of new U.S. COVID-19 cases » The omicron variant now accounts for nearly all new COVID-19 infections in the United States.

Just over a week ago, the CDC estimated that omicron was behind just under 60 percent of new cases. But now…

WALENSKY: Based on CDC genomic sequencing, we now estimate that Omicron represents about 95 percent of cases in the country and Delta represents the remaining 5 percent of the cases.

CDC Director Rochelle Walenksy heard there.

Omicron is far more contagious, driving record levels of infection. The good news remains that it is also less severe.

The CDC also said Wednesday that it’s not changing the definition of “fully vaccinated” to require a booster shot. But the CDC continues to urge Americans to get both vaccinated and boosted.

Chicago teachers leave classrooms amid omicron surge » Roughly 350,000 students in the nation’s third-largest school system stayed home from school on Wednesday, unsure when they’ll return to class.

The Chicago Teachers Union voted Tuesday night to move classes online because of rising COVID cases.

But Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfood blasted the move, saying kids need to be at their desks. And district leaders called it a “walkout,” opting to cancel classes instead. That means teachers won’t be paid until they return to classrooms.

Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez called the union’s decision unnecessary.

MARTINEZ: There’s no widespread issues around safety in our schools. I’ve been to our schools. Our children are wearing their masks. Why? Because they want to be there in person.

But Chicago Teachers Union President Jesse Sharkey said throughout the pandemic, the city has failed to deliver on a list of basic needs.

SHARKEY: Has failed to provide adequate staffing, adequate cleaning in the schools, has failed to provide adequate testing.

About 73 percent of union members approved the move to leave classrooms. They called for remote instruction until “cases substantially subside” or union leaders approve an agreement on safety measures.

At least 13 dead in Philadelphia public housing fire » Fire tore through public housing units in Philadelphia on Wednesday, killing at least 13 people, including seven children.

That marks the highest death toll in a single fire in the city in at least a century.

Mayor Jim Kenney…

KENNEY: This is without a doubt one of the most tragic days in our city’s history, the loss of so many people in such a tragic way.

The blaze ignited before 6:30 a.m. in a residential area of the city's Fairmount neighborhood, northwest of downtown and home to the Philadelphia Museum.

Investigators said they do not yet know the cause of the fire. But Deputy Fire Commissioner Craig Murphy said residents were not alerted to the fire in time.

MURPHY: There were four smoke detectors in that building and none of them operated.

The Philadelphia Housing Authority said the alarms had been inspected annually, and at least two had been replaced in 2020. Officials said the last inspection was in May of last year.

Boy Scouts' multi-billion-dollar abuse settlement plan misses mark » A multi-billion-dollar plan to settle sexual abuse claims against the Boy Scouts of America missed the mark this week. WORLD’s Anna Johansen Brown has more.

ANNA JOHANSEN BROWN, REPORTER: About 73 percent of the nearly 54,000 claimants voted to support the Boy Scout’s bankruptcy settlement plan. But that might not be enough.

It’s unclear exactly what level of support the plan needs in order to win court approval, but the Scouts were hoping for seventy-five percent. That is a seemingly safe benchmark under the bankruptcy code.

A judge will decide next month whether to OK the plan to settle more than 82,000 abuse claims.

Local councils, insurance companies, and multiple affiliated church groups would pitch in to a compensation fund … totaling about $2.7 billion. That would be the largest sexual abuse settlement in U.S. history!

But those representing the victims say it’s not enough. The Tort Claimants’ Committee estimated the fund nets an average of $28,000 per claim.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Anna Johansen Brown.

At least 8 dead amid protests in Kazakhstan » At least eight people are dead and hundreds more injured amid protests and violent clashes in Kazakhstan.

AUDIO: [Sound of protests]

Protesters in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, stormed the presidential residence and the mayor's office on Wednesday … setting both buildings on fire. They’re angry about sharply rising gas prices.

Government forces responded by firing tear gas and stun grenades to disperse the crowds.

AUDIO: [Sound of protests]

Some reports state that police fired live rounds at intruders at the presidential palace.

The demonstrations mark a rare challenge to the ex-Soviet country's authoritarian regime. The government resigned in response to the unrest and President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev vowed to take harsh measures to quell it.

He declared a two-week curfew in parts of the country.

And the government may be blocking internet access amid reports of widespread outages.

While the cost of gas has nearly doubled of late, some analysts say the unrest reflects wider discontent with the government. Kazakhstan has been ruled by one party since its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

I’m Kent Covington. For more news, features, and analysis, visit us at wng.org. 

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