Coronavirus updates: Barron Trump also tested positive for COVID, Melania says

Brigham Young University-Idaho said it is investigating reports of students who have intentionally exposed themselves or others to COVID-19 with the hope of getting the disease and being paid for plasma that contains antibodies.

The private university in Rexburg, Idaho, shared the development in a statement posted on its website Monday, saying it was "deeply troubled" by the accounts.

"The university condemns this behavior and is actively seeking evidence of any such conduct among our student body," the school said. "Students who are determined to have intentionally exposed themselves or others to the virus will be immediately suspended from the university and may be permanently dismissed."

The university warned that it may be forced to transition to a fully-remote instruction model if recent COVID-19 trends in surrounding Madison County and across Idaho continue.

"The contraction and spread of COVID-19 is not a light matter. Reckless disregard for health and safety will inevitably lead to additional illness and loss of life in our community," the school said. "We urge all members of the campus community to act respectfully and responsibly by observing all public health and university protocols and placing the well-being of others above personal benefit or convenience."

The university added that it "stands ready to help" students who are struggling with the physical, emotional and financial strain of the coronavirus pandemic.

"There is never a need to resort to behavior that endangers health or safety in order to make ends meet," the school said.

At least 109 students and 22 employees at Brigham Young University-Idaho have contracted COVID-19, according to the latest data provided by the school.

ABC News' Jon Haworth contributed to this report.

Russia confirmed 14,231 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, setting a new record for its daily tally of infections.

It's the first time that Russia has registered over 14,000 new cases since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, and the sixth straight day that the country has broken its record for newly confirmed cases. Russia's previous record of 13,868 new cases was set a day earlier.

An additional 239 deaths from COVID-19 were also recorded in the past day, just under the country's record of 244 fatalities set the previous day.

The cumulative totals now stand at 1,340,409 confirmed cases and 23,205 deaths, according to Russia’s coronavirus response headquarters.

Russia's capital, Moscow, continues to be the epicenter of the country's COVID-19 outbreak. Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin announced Wednesday that first to fifth-grade students will return to classrooms next week, following a two-week school break aimed at slowing the spread of the virus in the city. All other students will continue their studies remotely until the end of the month.

"The measure has proven to be effective. The portion of children among the infected has decreased from 19 to 11% in recent days," Sobyanin said in a statement posted on his official website.

ABC News' Alina Lobzina contributed to this report.

The number of new COVID-19 cases recorded in the United States increased by double digits in week-over-week comparisons, while the number of new deaths from the disease continued to tick downward slightly, according to an internal memo from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that was obtained by ABC News on Tuesday night.

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 34 U.S. states and territories are in an upward trajectory of new infections, while 10 jurisdictions are at a plateau and 12 others are in a downward trend.

There were 351,270 new cases confirmed during the period of Oct. 6-Oct. 12, a 14.4% increase from the previous week. There were also 4,886 fatalities from COVID-19 recorded during the same period, a 1.5% decrease compared with the week prior. The national positivity rate for COVID-19 tests increased from 4.7% to 6.1% in week-to-week comparisons, according to the memo.

Meanwhile, 22% of hospitals nationwide have more than 80% of beds full in their intensive care units. That figure was 17-18% during the summertime peak, the memo said.

California's Sonoma County saw a 129.7% relative increase in new cases of COVID-19 between Sept. 29 and Oct. 6. The county confirmed 62 cases on Oct. 7 linked to outbreaks at schools and childcare facilities, according to the memo.

Kentucky reported on Oct. 7 its highest number of COVID-19 patients in ICUs since May. As of Oct. 6, the state's seven-day average for ICU bed occupancy was 80.6%, with 43.7% of adult ICU beds occupied by COVID-19 patients, the memo said.

Montana hit a peak of 504 new COVID-19 cases confirmed on Oct. 6. Daily hospital admissions in the state have increased from 40 in mid-September to more than 60 per day, with greater than 80 on Oct. 5 and Oct. 6. Montana's seven-day hospitalization rate continues to rise from 15.7 per 100,000 population on sept. 29 to a four-month high of 20 per 100,000 population on Oct. 6. Local officials report that hospitals are closed to or at capacity and have started redirecting patients, according to the memo.

New Jersey's seven-day COVID-19 case rate increased 20.6% to 539.5 cases per 1 million population between Sept. 29 and Oct. 6. The state has 71.7% of inpatient hospital beds occupied, with 56.4% of ICU beds full. At least 100 schools in New Jersey have teachers or students who have tested positive for COVID-19, the memo said.

New York recorded on Oct. 6 its highest number of total hospitalizations since July 22. The state has 79.5% of inpatient hospital beds occupied, with 62.4% of ICU beds full.

Utah reported more than 1,000 COVID-19 cases per day for six of the seven days last week. At the same time, week-to-week testing in the state has decreased slightly by 1.2%. Utah's positivity rate for COVID-19 tests, however, has remained stable at 14%.

ABC News' Josh Margolin contributed to this report.

There were 52,406 new cases of COVID-19 identified in the United States on Tuesday, according to a real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University.

The latest daily tally is up by nearly 11,000 from the previous day but still falls under the country’s record set on July 16, when there were 77,255 new cases in a 24-hour-reporting period.

An additional 802 coronavirus-related fatalities were also recorded Tuesday, up by more than 400 from the previous day but down from a peak of 2,666 new fatalities reported on April 17.

A total of 7,858,344 people in the United States have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, and at least 215,910 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 started to climb again in recent weeks.