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Coronavirus updates: State tops 14,000 deaths as restaurants reopen

Bars and restaurants can reopen at full capacity effective immediately.

ByMorgan Winsor and Emily Shapiro
Video byJessie DiMartino
Last Updated: September 28, 2020, 11:55 AM EDT

A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 987,000 people worldwide.

Over 32.4 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 million diagnosed cases and at least 203,704 deaths.

California has the most cases of any U.S. state, with more than 803,000 people diagnosed, according to Johns Hopkins data. California is followed by Texas and Florida, with over 751,000 cases and over 695,000 cases, respectively.

Nearly 190 vaccine candidates for COVID-19 are being tracked by the World Health Organization, at least nine of which are in crucial phase three trials.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing today. All times Eastern.
Sep 25, 2020, 7:30 AM EDT

Poland reports another record daily rise in cases

Poland reported a record rise in COVID-19 cases for the second straight day on Friday.

The Polish Ministry of Health confirmed another 1,587 new cases of the disease in the past 24 hours, the country's highest daily caseload since the start of the pandemic. An additional 23 coronavirus-related deaths were also reported in the past day.

Children wearing face masks listen to the school director's speech during the first day of a new academic year in Warsaw, Poland, on Sept. 1, 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Kacper Pempel/Reuters

A majority of the newly confirmed infections were in the central part of the country.

In total, Polish Ministry of Health has identified 84,396 confirmed cases with 2,392 deaths.

Sep 25, 2020, 6:44 AM EDT

Wisconsin grapples with record-high COVID-19 hospitalizations

A total of 530 people remained hospitalized for COVID-19 in Wisconsin as of Thursday afternoon -- the highest yet since the pandemic began.

Among those patients, 371 were receiving mechanical ventilation and 141 were in intensive care units. Currently, 80% of all hospital beds statewide are full, according to the latest data from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.

The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in Wisconsin topped 500 for the first time Wednesday, according to a report by Madison ABC affiliate WKOW.

"There is no doubt that we are in a significant near-crunch time in a number of regions in the state," Dr. Mark Kaufman, chief medical officer of the Wisconsin Hospital Association, told WKOW.

The rising number of COVID-19 hospitalizations comes as hospitals are also gearing up for flu season.

"We really don't know how people will react if they are co-infected with both COVID and influenza," Kaufman said. "But it is not likely to be good."

Sep 25, 2020, 5:43 AM EDT

India reports under 90,000 new cases for 5th straight day

India confirmed another 86,052 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours.

An additional 1,141 coronavirus-related fatalities were also recorded. The country's cumulative total now stands at 5,818,570 confirmed cases and 92,290 deaths, according to the latest data from the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

A health worker takes a throat swab during a COVID-19 screening in Mumbai, India, on Sept. 25, 2020.
Indranil Mukherjee/AFP via Getty Images

The daily caseload in the vast county of 1.3 billion people has remained below the 90,000 mark for five consecutive days after hitting a peak of 97,894 on Sept. 16, the highest single-day rise in infections worldwide since the coronavirus pandemic began.

Based on the current rate of infection, India is expected within weeks to become the pandemic's worst-hit nation, surpassing the United States, where more than 6.9 million people have been diagnosed with COVID-19.

Sep 25, 2020, 5:10 AM EDT

UK sees highest single-day rise in cases amid 2nd wave

The United Kingdom reported 6,634 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, its highest daily caseload since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Another 40 coronavirus related-fatalities within 28 days of a positive test result were also registered Thursday, according to data published on the U.K. government's website. The latest daily death toll for COVID-19 is far below the country's record set on April 8 when there were 1,073 new fatalities reported U.K.-wide.

People drink at the outside tables of a cafe in London's Soho neighborhood on Sept. 24, 2020, on the first night of a new curfew for bars, pubs and restaurants in England and Wales, which was introduced to stem a surge of COVID-19 cases.
Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty Images

The United Kingdom's cumulative total now stands at 416,363 confirmed cases and 41,902 deaths. The number of new infections started to come down in mid-April after hitting a peak but has been on the rise again since July.

The surge has prompted the British government to tighten restrictions on daily life in an effort to curb the current rate of infection.

The United Kingdom is not the only country seeing a second wave of COVID-19. Other European nations including France and Spain are also grappling with growing outbreaks.

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