no, maggie rulli is always a gamer. year. >> there she is. we could do this all morning. mag d maggie, we'll check in with you in a moment. >>> first we have the top headlines for you this morning, including president biden set to announce drastic new steps to fight the omicron variant sweeping the nation. a thousand military medical personnel will help overburdened hospitals and by january there will be free at home rapid tests for any american who requests one. all this as the world health organization is now asking people to make difficult decisions to protect themselves and others including possibly delaying or even canceling their holiday events. >>> also a 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of northern california. the quake happened 270 miles north of san francisco and could be felt up and down the coast. >>> also right now the fda approved the first ever injectable medication to lower the risk of getting hiv. until now pre-exposure medication was only available in pill form. they will be every two mont

maggie rulli, abc news, london. >>> now to "operation christmas drop."'s annual tradition spreading christmas cheer to people in need. aviators dropped much-needed supplies to people in the remote islands of the south pacific. fly in, just like santa. >> reporter: the u.s. air force thousands living on the most remote islands of the world. dropping more than 3,200 pounds of food supplies toys and educational materials as part of 9 air force's "operation christmas drop". >> amazing to be able to spread the joy where the community comes together and in the spirit of the holidays it's full in the air. >> reporter: this air force senior master sergeant and his family are part of the team that makes this happen. >> amazing, because it's one of the opportunities where our families can come together and play a small part in this mission. >> reporter: air force tech sergeant dorsey says takes about a year to plan and pack packages. >> fish nets, fishing gear. tools, food, and just some toys to bring the holiday cheer for those that could use them. >> reporter: a

our maggie rulli is in london for us and, maggie, this set off a lot of reaction to the new round ofulations. >> reporter: hey, t.j., exactly. this is not where we want to be but government scientists warned if omicron is left unchecked the uk should brace for a million new cases in the next month with cases likely to double every two to three days. that's similar to the rates we've been seeing in south africa and the prime minister says we cannot yet assume that this new variant is any less severe. that's why he brought in sweeping new restrictions including mask mandates now again almost in every indoor setting, the introduction of vaccine passports or mandatory testing for large venues and officials are encouraging everyone to work from home if they can. now, guys, this should be a warning for everyone as we've seen time and time again in the pandemic what happens over here in the uk and europe first eventually makes its way to the u.s. cecilia? >> okay, maggie, thank you so much. >>> on that note we'll turn to washington now where vaccine mandates here at home are under fire. sen

maggie rulli is in london for us this morning. ning, maggie. >> reporter: hey, michael, good morning. health officials are saying that no other covid variant has spread this fast and they fear that in less than 36 hours variant here in london. dominan- now, already it makes up 44% of cases in the city and numbers are doubling every two to three days. so far there are ten confirmed cases in hospitals and the first death from omicron has been reported here in the uk but at this point we still don't know anything about that patient's age or any pre-existing conditions. now, officials are now warning we should expect to see numbers dramatically increase in the coming days and weeks that lie ahead. but, guys, by how much and how severe? that we still don't know. this is such a new variant and officials are trying to keep up with science that's unfolding in realtime. >> so much to keep up with, maggie. for now the government there is saying the best course of action is for people to get booster shots. >> reporter: yeah, exactly, michael.