OVERVIEW: U.S testing kits rationed in stores, South Africa registers fewer cases

Heavy demand for COVID-19 home test kits, including sellouts at some stores, has led major pharmacy chains to ration individual purchases.

Increased interest in testing comes as the nation is experiencing a COVID case surge, and the omicron variant is rising quickly in its percentage of diagnoses. Tests are at a premium for holiday travelers hoping to gather safely with family and friends.

Customers are limited to four over-the-counter antigen tests at Walgreens pharmacies, while CVS is restricting buyers to six kits. ...

On Tuesday, President Joe Biden announced the purchase of 500 million at-home rapid COVID-19 tests, which are expected to be available in January.

Other developments include:

► New York; New Jersey; Washington, D.C.; and Puerto Rico all set records Tuesday for their surging COVID-19 case counts. In the week ending Tuesday, cases in Washington were 9.3 times what the CDC says is a high level of community transmission. In New York they were 7.1, New Jersey, 5.7, and Puerto Rico, 2.5, a USA TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins University data show.

► California will require health care workers to receive a COVID-19 booster shot, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Tuesday, pledging to make sure hospitals are prepared as a new version of the disease begins to spread throughout the state. ...

 -- The U.S. has recorded more than 51.2 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 810,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Global totals: More than 276.3 million cases and 5.3 million deaths. More than 204.5 million Americans – 61.6% – are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.

 ---South Africa's noticeable drop in new COVID-19 cases in recent days may signal that the country's dramatic omicron-driven surge has passed its peak, medical experts say.

Daily virus case counts are notoriously unreliable, as they can be affected by uneven testing, reporting delays and other fluctuations. But they are offering one tantalizing hint – far from conclusive yet – that omicron infections may recede quickly after a ferocious spike.

After hitting a high of nearly 27,000 new cases nationwide on Thursday, the numbers dropped to about 15,424 on Tuesday. In Gauteng province – South Africa’s most populous with 16 million people, including the largest city, Johannesburg, and the capital, Pretoria – the decrease started earlier and has continued. ...