Coronavirus updates: Birx warns of 'troubling signs' in Northeast amid 'very different' spread of COVID-19
"What we did in the spring is not going to work in the fall," Birx said.
A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 1 million people worldwide.
Over 36.7 million people across the globe have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new respiratory virus, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The criteria for diagnosis -- through clinical means or a lab test -- has varied from country-to-country. Still, the actual numbers are believed to be much higher due to testing shortages, many unreported cases and suspicions that some national governments are hiding or downplaying the scope of their outbreaks.
Since the first cases were detected in China in December, the virus has rapidly spread to every continent except Antarctica.
The United States is the worst-affected country, with more than 7.6 million diagnosed cases and at least 213,570 deaths.
California has the most cases of any U.S. state, with more than 847,000 people diagnosed, according to Johns Hopkins data. California is followed by Texas and Florida, with over 811,000 cases and over 728,000 cases, respectively.
More than 190 vaccine candidates for COVID-19 are being tracked by the World Health Organization, at least 10 of which are in crucial phase three studies. Of those 10 potential vaccines in late-stage trials, there are currently five that will be available in the United States if approved.
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AstraZeneca getting $486M to develop, make monoclonal antibody cocktail
The U.S. government is giving AstraZeneca $486 million to develop and manufacture its monoclonal antibody cocktail.
The Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Defense announced the agreement with the pharmaceutical company on Friday.
AstraZeneca will launch two phase 3 trials to study its monoclonal antibodies as a way to prevent COVID-19 infection. The company is also in the middle of a phase 3 trial for a COVID-19 vaccine.
"In addition to Operation Warp Speed's historic progress on vaccines, we are supporting promising monoclonal antibodies for prevention and treatment all the way through to supply, allowing faster distribution if trials are successful," HHS Secretary Alex Azar said in a statement.
Monoclonal antibodies are considered a "bridge" to a vaccine because they have the potential to work as both a treatment for people who are already sick and as short-term protection for those who have not yet been infected.
At least four large pharmaceutical companies are now in late-stage trials for monoclonal antibodies, including Regeneron, which makes the experimental monoclonal antibody cocktail President Donald Trump received on a compassionate use basis as part of his COVID-19 treatment.
ABC News' Chris Howell and Sony Salzman contributed to this report.
COVID-19 cases at school attended by Amy Coney Barrett's children
There have been positive tests for COVID-19 at the small private school in South Bend, Indiana, that some of Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett’s children attend, Trinity School confirmed to ABC News.
The president of Trinity Schools, Jon Balsbaugh, declined to address specifics of the positive tests. A teacher and two students tested positive, according to The New York Times.
In a statement, Balsbaugh said that the school's coronavirus measures include a mix of remote and in-person learning, mask usage indoors and outdoors when social distancing cannot be maintained, daily health checks and temperature screenings, and "rigorous contract tracing protocols" in the event of a positive case.
Barrett brought her family to the White House last month when President Donald Trump announced her nomination to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Over a dozen attendees of the Sept. 26 Rose Garden event have since tested positive for COVID-19 in what Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, called a "superspreader event" in an interview with CBS News Radio on Friday.
ABC News' Aaron Katersky contributed to this report.
Free school meals extended through end of school year
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said Friday that it's extending waivers that allow school meals to be free for all students through the rest of the 2020-2021 school year.
Schools will be able to continue providing meals to students who are not physically in school, including allowing parents to pick up meals at no cost.
“As our nation recovers and reopens, we want to ensure that children continue to receive the nutritious breakfasts and lunches they count on during the school year wherever they are, and however they are learning,” U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said in a statement.
ABC News’ Stephanie Ebbs contributed to this report.
New daily high number of cases worldwide, WHO says
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday announced a new record high of daily COVID-19 cases worldwide, according to The Associated Press.
WHO officials said 350,766 new cases were reported, which is a jump of almost 12,000 cases from the record set earlier in the week, according to the AP.
80% of ICU beds are full at 25% of US hospitals, HHS memo says
According to an internal memo from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that was obtained by ABC News, 25% of the nation's hospitals are reporting that beds in intensive care units are more than 80% full.
The memo, which is circulated to the highest levels of the federal government and is used to determine daily priorities for the agencies working on COVID-19 response, said 29 U.S. states and territories are in an upward trajectory of infections, while 10 jurisdictions are at a plateau and 17 others are in a downward trend.
There were 314,894 new cases confirmed during the period of Oct. 1-Oct. 7, a 6% increase from the previous week. There were also 4,730 coronavirus-related fatalities recorded during the period of Oct. 1-Oct. 7, a 5.2% decrease compared with the week prior, according to the memo.
Meanwhile, the national positivity rate for COVID-19 tests increased from 4.5% to 5.7% in week-to-week comparisons, the memo said.
In Arkansas, the seven-day positivity rate for COVID-19 tests jumped from 7.1% to 22.8% -- a 300% increase -- between the weeks ending Sept. 24 and Oct. 1, according to the memo.
Delaware's seven-day COVID-19 case rate rose 41.6% to 1,009.5 cases per 1 million population on Oct. 4 from the previous week -- much higher than the regional rate of 633.5 cases per 1 million. The state's number of new COVID-19 cases, deaths and hospitalizations are all trending upward, the memo said.
In Hawaii, pet shelters are at capacity due to the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic. On Oct. 30, the state will initiate the largest pet airlift across the Pacific Ocean in history, transporting hundreds of animals to Seattle from Kauai, Honolulu, Maui and Hawaii Island, according to the memo.
Idaho's daily average of COVID-19 hospitalizations increased from 7.3 to 8.7 per 100,000 population during the week ending Oct. 4, the memo said.
Indiana has also seen an upward trend in its seven-day COVID-19 hospitalization rate. Meanwhile, the state's number of new COVID-19 cases continues to rise, with the average of new daily cases rising 50% over the peak in April and May, according to the memo.
Multiple counties in Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia, Cambria, Bradford and Columbia -- reported their number of new COVID-19 cases doubling in the week ending Oct. 4
ABC News' Josh Margolin contributed to this report.
