A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 948,000 people worldwide.
Over 30.3 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 6.7 million diagnosed cases and at least 198,306 deaths.
California has the most cases of any U.S. state, with more than 776,000 people diagnosed, according to Johns Hopkins data. California is followed by Texas and Florida, with over 701,000 cases and over 677,000 cases, respectively.
Nearly 170 vaccine candidates for COVID-19 are being tracked by the World Health Organization, at least six of which are in crucial phase three trials.
Here's how the news developed today. All times Eastern.
Sep 18, 2020, 11:12 AM EDT
New Zealand reports no new cases for 1st time in over a month
New Zealand has reported no new confirmed cases of COVID-19 for the first time since Aug. 10, after a fresh outbreak was discovered in the country's most populous city.
New Zealand's Ministry of Health said Friday that there were no positive results among the 7,360 people tested for COVID-19 the previous day. It's the fourth straight day without any cases of community transmission in the nation of 5 million people, with all recent cases being detected among quarantined travelers returning from abroad.
People jog past a social distancing sign in Auckland, New Zealand, on Aug. 31, 2020.
Fiona Goodall/Reuters
A cluster of cases emerged in the city of Auckland last month, ending New Zealand's 102-day streak without any local transmission of the novel coronavirus. The outbreak prompted the government to impose a temporary lockdown in the region and reschedule national elections.
Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, New Zealand's Ministry of Health has identified 1,809 confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases as well as 25 coronavirus-related deaths. There are currently 70 active cases and four coronavirus-related hospitalizations in the country.
Sep 18, 2020, 10:07 AM EDT
COVID-19 is New York City's 'largest mass fatality incident,' report says
The number of deaths reported to the New York City's Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) more than doubled in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic gripped the nation's most populous city, according to a new report from the mayor's office.
"COVID-19 tragically represents the largest mass fatality incident in modern NYC history," the report said.
There were 65,712 deaths reported to OCME during the 2020 fiscal year, compared to 30,964 in fiscal year 2019.
"The number of deaths reported to OCME increased, corresponding to the surge in NYC deaths during the pandemic," the report said.
Workers wearing personal protective equipment move bodies to a refrigerated truck from the Andrew T. Cleckley Funeral Home in the Brooklyn borough of New York City on April 29, 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Craig Ruttle/AP
Meanwhile, the number of cremation requests reviewed by the OCME jumped from 17,148 to 27,863 over the past year.
"This increase came about during the months of March through June where OCME received 16,115 requests, a number that approached the entire Fiscal 2019 total," the report said. "This increase corresponds to the surge in deaths NYC experienced during the pandemic to date."
The number of decedents' remains transported by OCME and stored in the morgue also increased from 11,281 to 17,606.
New York City has counted nearly 24,000 confirmed or probable deaths from COVID-19 so far. In April, the city's COVID-19 death toll surpassed the number of people killed in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
ABC News' Aaron Katerksy contributed to this report.
Sep 18, 2020, 9:17 AM EDT
London cancels New Year's Eve fireworks, while England imposes tighter restrictions
The massive fireworks display that lights up London's skyline every New Year's Eve, attracting tens of thousands of people, has been canceled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan announced the decision to halt the official New Year's Eve celebrations in the British capital during an interview Friday on radio station LBC, citing concerns about further spread of the novel coronavirus.
"There will not be fireworks on New Year’s Eve this year like in previous years," Khan said. "We simply can’t afford to have the numbers of people who congregate on New Year’s Eve congregating."
Fireworks explode around the London Eye during New Year's celebrations in central London, just after midnight, on Jan. 1, 2020. London Mayor Sadiq Khan announced on Sept. 18 that the New Year's Eve fireworks display, which annually attracts tens of thousands of people to the British capital, will be canceled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP via Getty Images
As the city's COVID-19 case count continues to rise, Khan warned that new restrictions could be imposed in London if people don't follow the current social distancing rules. He said new measures could be similar to those recently announced in other areas of England, where more than 10 million people are now banned from mixing with other households outside of support bubbles while hospitality and entertainment venues have to adhere to a nightly curfew.
"Without wishing to alarm your listeners, the number of cases in London are going up; the infection rate is going up, and hospital admissions are going up," Khan told LBC. "But we aren't at a point where we would need to trigger the sort of things we need to do that you're seeing across the country."
Sep 18, 2020, 8:30 AM EDT
Controversial testing guidance 'absolutely came from the CDC,' task force official says
A controversial guideline posted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month about who should be tested for COVID-19 was approved by the agency's director, Dr. Robert Redfield, according to Adm. Brett Giroir, assistant secretary for health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
"It absolutely came from the CDC," Giroir, a key member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force who is in charge of coordinating the government's testing efforts, told ABC News' Cecilia Vega in an interview Friday on "Good Morning America."
The guideline in question said it wasn't necessary to test people without COVID-19 symptoms, even if they had been exposed to the virus.
"There are thousands of people at the CDC. I have no idea who The New York Times talked to, but I know for a fact that the version that went to the task force was reviewed and approved by Dr. Redfield," Giroir continued. "It was reviewed and approved by the senior scientist who was the incident manager and in multiple emails to me said that the pertinent issues were reviewed by subject matter experts."
Giroir was referring to a recent article by The New York Times that reported the guideline was not written by CDC scientists and was posted to the agency's website despite their serious objections. The article cited several people familiar with the matter as well as internal documents obtained by the newspaper.
During the interview on "GMA," Giroir disputed that the guideline recommended against testing those who are asymptomatic and said more clarification would be released soon.
"In fact, there were specific recommendations to test asymptomatic (individuals) in outbreak areas," he noted. "What they said was, if you're asymptomatic after exposure, you should do it within the context of public health or medical advice." he noted.
"I want people to know that if you are asymptomatic you can still spread the virus and we want them to be tested," he added.
Giroir, who is also a medical doctor, said politics is not part of the decision-making that is happening on the coronavirus task force and that it is a "science-based, evidence-based process ... with the scientists leading."
He agreed with Redfield's recent statement on Capitol Hill that a potential COVID-19 vaccine won't be widely available until the middle of next year.
"But the point that I want to emphasize is, we could immunize 5% or 10% of the population and get 90% of the benefit by ring-fencing the vulnerable, like in nursing homes or vaccinating our teachers or those who have hypertensions," Giroir said. "If we had a vaccine, even a few million in November, it could make an enormous impact on the health of the country. But it is also true that everyone who wants a vaccine may not be able to get it till mid-next year."
ABC News' Kelly McCarthy contributed to this report.
