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At least 44 people on board Royal Caribbean's Symphony of the Seas ship that ended a 7-day cruise in Miami on Saturday were positive for COVID-19 during the sailing, the cruise line said. Those 44 people who tested positive represented 0.72% of the 6,074 passengers and crew members on board Symphony of the Seas, which left Miami on Dec. 11and made stops in St. Maarten, St. Thomas, and Perfect Day at CocoCay (Royal Caribbean's private island), spokesperson Lyan Sierra-Caro told USA TODAY. (Hines, 12/19)

Across the nation, Covid-19 cases are surging and the Omicron variant is spreading, throwing the scheduling of schools, concerts and sports leagues into question. Just days away from a holiday weekend, Americans are also grappling with whether to change their traveling or gathering plans. Millions are forging ahead, but, for many, a sense of unease has crept in. “My entire family is pretty uncertain about what to do there, what the rules should be,” Max Farmer, 24, who lives in San Francisco, said. “With Omicron, there’s just a lot of uncertainty.” (Heyward, 12/19)

National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins said on Sunday that holiday travel would not be advisable for unvaccinated people due to the quickly spreading omicron variant. Appearing on CBS's "Face the Nation," Collins said that any travel should be done "very carefully." "I think airplanes, now with required masking, probably being on an airplane is a fairly safe place to be. But think about how you're going to get there and how you can make sure you're safe along the way," said Collins. (Choi, 12/19)

Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city was weighing whether the annual New Year’s Eve ball-drop celebration in Times Square would be held as planned amid the Omicron virus variant’s rapid spread through New York City.Mr. de Blasio said Sunday that he was in talks with the sponsors of the gathering, but noted that the event was outside and required proof of vaccination. He promised to have a decision one way or the other before Christmas. (Ashford, 12/19)

Vendors in downtown D.C. on Saturday said the number of shoppers they’ve seen opting to wear a face mask — or two — even while browsing outdoor stands at the annual holiday shopping village has grown noticeably over the last two weeks. For Mallory and Bori Oludemi, both 29, double-masking seemed like the responsible thing to do to protect themselves and their families, a small group of which plan to gather around Christmas. Though the couple has received full doses of the coronavirus vaccine, the Oludemis’ booster shot appointments aren’t for another two weeks. (Lang, 12/18)

The world of professional sports is back in disarray with the entry of the omicron variant. Players have been benched after testing positive, games have been canceled or postponed and leagues and players' unions are scrambling to figure out how to move forward under a cloud of uncertainty. The NHL has postponed 27 games so far and will postpone another 12 through Thursday because of COVID. The NBA postponed five games because of the number of players and staff who had entered the league's COVID-19 protocols. NFL game delays were also piling up. (Hernandez, 12/19)

The NHL and its players association temporarily clamped down on teams crossing the Canadian border and shut down operations of two more teams on Sunday for a total of seven in hopes of salvaging the season as COVID-19 outbreaks spread across the league. The Detroit Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs were added to the list of teams told to shut down operations, joining the Colorado Avalanche, Florida Panthers, Calgary Flames, Nashville Predators and Boston Bruins. (12/20)