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Coronavirus latest: 5 states removed from New York travel advisory list

The advisory mandates a 14-day self-quarantine for travelers from those states.

ByMorgan Winsor and Matt Zarrell
Last Updated: August 26, 2020, 6:44 AM EDT

A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 814,000 people worldwide.

Over 23.7 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 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 United States has become the worst-affected country, with more than 5.7 million diagnosed cases and at least 177,873 deaths.

Nearly 170 vaccine candidates are being tracked by the World Health Organization. Six of these are in crucial phase three trials, where thousands are being administered vaccine doses.

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Aug 25, 2020, 5:48 AM EDT

New cases and deaths in US have decreased substantially, FEMA memo says

The numbers of new COVID-19 cases and new deaths in the United States have both decreased by substantial amounts in week-over-week comparisons, according to an internal memo from the Federal Emergency Management Agency obtained by ABC News Monday night.

Just five U.S. states and territories are currently in an upward trajectory of new cases, while five states are at a plateau and 46 states are going down, the memo said.

There were 300,366 new cases confirmed during the period of Aug. 17-23, a 16.2% decrease from the previous seven-day period. There were also 6,873 new deaths recorded Aug. 17-23, an 8.5% decrease from the previous week, according to the memo.

Meanwhile, the national positivity rate for COVID-19 tests ticked downward slightly from 6.4% to 5.5%, the memo said.

PHOTO: Students wearing masks enter Lewis and Clark Middle School for the first day of classes as a school resource officer looks on in Billings, Montana, on Aug. 24, 2020.
Students wearing masks enter Lewis and Clark Middle School for the first day of classes as a school resource officer looks on in Billings, Montana, on Aug. 24, 2020. Public school districts statewide are offering at least some level of in-person instruction, ranging from full-time to a mix of online and classroom learning.
Matthew Brown/AP

Oregon appears to be coming down from a peak with a 7% decrease in infections, a 19.5% decrease in hospitalizations and a 20% reduction in deaths for the week ending on Aug. 16, compared to the previous week, according to the memo.

Idaho has seen an 8.5% decrease in the seven-day case rate since Aug. 18, but a 12.2% increase in the seven-day death rate, the memo said.

In Montana, the Native American community makes up 7% of the state’s population but accounts for 18% of cases statewide and 34% of deaths, according to the memo.

ABC News’ Josh Margolin contributed to this report.

Aug 25, 2020, 4:42 AM EDT

US reports less than 500 new deaths for 2nd straight day

There were 38,045 new cases of COVID-19 identified in the United States on Monday, according to a count kept by Johns Hopkins University.

Monday's tally is well below the country's record set on July 16, when 77,255 new cases were identified in a 24-hour reporting period.

An additional 450 coronavirus-related deaths were also recorded Monday. The latest daily death toll is under the record 2,666 new fatalities that were reported on April 17.

It's the second consecutive day that the country has reported less than 40,000 new cases and fewer than 500 new deaths.

Travelers wearing protective suits, face masks, face shields and gloves walk to the ride share area at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California, on Aug. 20, 2020.
Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images

A total of 5,740,909 people in the United States have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, and at least 177,279 of them have died, according to Johns Hopkins. The cases include people from all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C. and other U.S. territories as well as repatriated citizens.

By May 20, all U.S. states had begun lifting stay-at-home orders and other restrictions put in place to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. The day-to-day increase in the country's cases then hovered around 20,000 for a couple of weeks before shooting back up and crossing 70,000 for the first time in mid-July.

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