Coronavirus updates: Fauci calls 'herd immunity' declaration 'ridiculous'

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said the virus is becoming a "life and death" event for residents and urged people to take it more seriously as the state set a new daily record. 

"The longer it takes for everyone to take the virus seriously, the longer it takes to bring the economy back," he said.

Evers asked for people to stay home and to wear a face covering when out in public. He also encouraged residents to contact legislators to find out if they support the current public health emergency.

"This is becoming life and death for the people of Wisconsin," he said in a video message, noting that it was not just about the economy.

Wisconsin Department of Health Services Secretary-designee Andrea Palm said some parts of the state had 90% full intensive care units and staffing shortages, citing a September case spike. 

Officials said the seven-day average of daily cases rose to 2,927 and said they expected numbers to increase.

As of Thursday, the state had 162,325 confirmed cases, with a record increase of 3,747 cases from the previous day, officials said.

Coronavirus cases are increasing in 38 states and Washington, D.C., and deaths are rising in 14 states, according to an ABC News analysis of COVID Tracking Project data.

Amid warnings of a second wave, the seven-day average of new cases rose across the country with the figure now surpassing 52,000 -- the highest in nearly two months.

The trends were all analyzed from data collected and published by the COVID Tracking Project over the past two weeks, using the linear regression trend line of the seven-day moving average to examine whether a state's key indicators were increasing, decreasing or remained flat.

Two states and Puerto Rico reported decreases in new case trends and 10 states reported flat trends. Separately, nine states saw decreasing positivity rates, while rates in 15 states and Washington, D.C., were flat.

When it comes to hospitalizations, six states experienced a declining trend in current hospitalizations, while eight states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico reported flat hospitalizations trends. Twelve states saw a declining trend in new deaths, and 24 states, along with Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, reported flat rates.

Over the last week alone, the seven-day average of new cases increased by 10% or more in 33 states, according to an analysis of state data.

Data from this week may be skewed because of lags in reporting or backlogs as a result of the Columbus Day holiday.

The Centers for Disease Control released their weekly ensemble forecast showing that the agency expects the U.S. death toll to reach between 229,000 and 240,000 people by Nov. 7, according to new forecasts. 

The center said it received forecasts of COVID-19 deaths over the next 4 weeks from 44 modeling groups. Of the 44 groups, 39 provided forecasts for both new and total deaths, three groups forecast total deaths only, and two focused solely on new deaths.

"This week’s national ensemble forecast indicates an uncertain trend in new COVID-19 deaths reported over the next four weeks and predicts that 3,400 to 7,100 new deaths will likely be reported during the week ending November 7, 2020," the CDC said in a statement Thursday. 

It added: "The state- and territory-level ensemble forecasts predict that over the next 4 weeks, the number of newly reported deaths per week may increase in three jurisdictions and decrease in one jurisdiction … trends in numbers of future reported deaths are uncertain or predicted to remain stable in the other states and territories."

North Carolina reported 2,532 new cases on Thursday, representing the state's highest single-day increase since the start of the pandemic. Health officials reported 1,926 new cases the previous day. 

"Today, NC reported 2,532 new cases of #COVID19, our highest day of cases. Our trends are headed in the wrong direction, but we can turn this around, just as we have throughout the pandemic," the state's health department tweeted Thursday. 

The jump in new cases was accompanied by an increase in completed tests. The percentage of positive tests dropped slightly to 6.5%, but was still well above the September average of about 5%. 

At least 311 patients had been admitted to local hospitals with symptoms of COVID-19 over the last day.