A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 1 million people worldwide.
Over 33.4 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 7.1 million diagnosed cases and at least 205,345 deaths.
California has the most cases of any U.S. state, with more than 812,000 people diagnosed, according to Johns Hopkins data. California is followed by Texas and Florida, with over 761,000 cases and over 701,000 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.
Here's how the news developed today. All times Eastern.
Sep 29, 2020, 7:58 AM EDT
Israel's COVID-19 death rate per million overtakes US
Israel now has the world's highest daily COVID-19 death rate per million people, surpassing that of the United States, according to a report published Tuesday morning by an Israeli military task force.
The report shows that the daily COVID-19 death rate over the past week has been 3.5 per million people in Israel and 2.2 per million people in the United States.
Meanwhile, Israel continues to have the world's highest weekly COVID-19 infection rate per million people, followed by France and the United States, according to the report from the task force, which was formed by the Israel Defense Force's Military Intelligence Directorate and advises the country's health ministry.
A bandana-clad woman stands holding an Israeli flag during a demonstration in Jerusalem on Sept. 29, 2020. People have taken to the streets in the Israel's capital to protest a possible bill in the Knesset, Israel's unicameral parliament, that would limit political demonstrations as part of new coronavirus-related restrictions.
Menahem Kahana/AFP via Getty Images
The report also shows that the number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized in critical condition has increased by 70% over the last month and is 10 times higher than three months ago.
Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Israel has reported more than 233,000 confirmed cases with over 1,500 deaths, according to data from the country's health ministry.
Israel entered its second nationwide coronavirus lockdown on Sept. 18, as the Jewish High Holidays began. The country's health minister, Yuli Edelstein, said Tuesday that there was "no way" the lockdown would be lifted after three weeks as originally planned.
ABC News' Bruno Nota contributed to this report.
Sep 29, 2020, 6:40 AM EDT
Moscow extends school vacation due to rising cases
Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin announced Tuesday that fall break for all schools will be extended from one week to two, due to rising COVID-19 cases in Russia's capital.
"On the recommendation of sanitary doctors, taking into account the autumn increase in colds and the growth of the number of identified cases of COVID, I decided to prolong the duration of the autumn holidays to two weeks and to hold them at the same time in all schools -- from October 5 to 18," Sobyanin said in a message to parents and students, which was posted on his official website.
There will be no remote learning during the break. Moscow's kindergartens and preschool groups will continue working as usual, according to Sobyanin.
A teacher wears a face mask as she stands next to first graders during a ceremony marking the start of the new school year in Moscow, Russia, on Sept. 1, 2020, as schools reopen across the city following summer break and the coronavirus lockdown.
Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters
The mayor urged families to use this time as "an opportunity" to reduce the spread of COVID-19. He advised children against visiting shopping malls or riding public transportation "for fun."
"I very much ask parents to explain to their children that it is best to spend holiday time at home or in the countryside," he said. "Today, a significant part of those infected, often asymptomatic, are children. When they come home, they very easily transmit the virus to adults and elderly family members, who suffer much more severely from the illness."
The move comes as Moscow confirmed some 2,300 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, the city's highest daily tally since May 31. The daily growth of cases in the capital stands at 0.8%, according to Russia’s coronavirus response headquarters.
ABC News' Alina Lobzina contributed to this report.
Sep 29, 2020, 5:21 AM EDT
US reports more than 33,000 new cases
There were 33,037 new cases of COVID-19 identified in the United States on Monday, according to a real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University.
Monday's tally is far below the country’s record set on July 16, when there were 77,255 new cases in a 24-hour-reporting period.
An additional 316 coronavirus-related fatalities were also recorded Monday, down from a peak of 2,666 new fatalities reported on April 17.
People get their temperature checked at the Apple store on Fifth Avenue in New York City on Sept. 28, 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images
A total of 7,149,072 people in the United States have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, and at least 205,085 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. The daily tally of new cases has gradually come down since then but has hovered around 40,000 in recent weeks.
An internal memo from the Federal Emergency Management Agency obtained by ABC News on Monday night shows that the number of new cases recorded in the United States is continuing to increase significantly while the number of new deaths decreased slightly in week-over-week comparisons.
Sep 29, 2020, 4:52 AM EDT
Researchers find rapid rise in pediatric COVID-19 cases across US
The amount of children infected by the novel coronavirus in the United States has increased dramatically in recent months, according to new research by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association.
Researchers found that the number of pediatric COVID-19 cases rose between April and September from 2.2% to 10% of all cumulative reported cases nationwide. As of Sept. 10, there was a cumulative total of 549,432 pediatric COVID-19 cases in the United States, a rate of 729 cases per 100,000 children, according to the study, which was published online Tuesday and will appear in the December issue of Pediatrics, the official flagship journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
"These rising numbers concern us greatly, as the children's cases reflect the increasing virus spread in our communities," Dr. Sally Goza, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said in a statement. "While children generally don’t get as sick with the coronavirus as adults, they are not immune and there is much to learn about how easily they can transmit it to others. We must keep our children -- and each other -- healthy by following the recommended safety measures like washing hands, wearing cloth face coverings and staying 6 feet apart from others."
Children arrive for the the first day of school at the St. Bartholomew Catholic Academy in the Queens section of New York City on Sept. 21, 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images
The researchers analyzed trends in reported cases over the five-month period using data from U.S. public health department websites. The study notes that the data is limited because states differ in how they report the information. It’s unclear how much of the increase in pediatric cases was due to increased testing capacity. However, data published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that the share of all COVID-19 tests administered to children under 18 has remained stable at 5-7% since late April, according to the study.
Researchers found substantial variation in case growth by region. In April, a preponderance of pediatric cases was in the Northeast. In June, cases surged in the South and West, followed by increases in the Midwest in mid-July, according to the study.
Children in a pre-school class wear face masks and sit at desks spaced apart, as per COVID-19 guidelines, during summer school sessions in Monterey Park, California, on July 9, 2020.
Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images
Researchers also found that the portion of newly reported COVID-19 cases among children has increased substantially over time. Less than 3% of cases reported the week ending April 23 were pediatric. In the last eight weeks, children represented 12-15.9% of newly reported cases each week, according to the study.
As of Sept. 10, children represented 1.7% of total hospitalizations and 0.07% of total deaths, while 0.01% of pediatric cases resulted in death, according to the study.
"We will continue to closely monitor children's cases, with hopes of seeing the upward trend turn around," Goza said. "We encourage parents to call their pediatricians and get their children into the office for well visits and vaccinations, especially now that some schools are reopening and flu season has arrived."
