Coronavirus updates: CDC now 'strongly recommends' masks on airplanes, buses

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he's not confident in the Food and Drug Administration's approval process for a COVID-19 vaccine, and that the American public shouldn't be either.

"I'm not that confident, but my opinion doesn't matter. I don't believe the American people are that confident," Cuomo told ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos in an interview Monday on "Good Morning America."

"I think it's going to be a very skeptical American public about taking the vaccine, and they should be," he added.

Cuomo said he plans to assemble a group of doctors and medical experts to review any COVID-19 vaccine approved by the FDA before affirming its efficacy and safety for New York state residents.

"But I believe all across the country you're going to need someone other than this FDA and this CDC saying it's safe," he said, before adding that the two federal agencies don't "have any credibility."

The New York governor also expressed concern over comments Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, made during an interview that aired Sunday on CBS' "60 Minutes," in which he admitted that the White House has restricted "many, many, many" of his media appearances since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

"You have Dr. Fauci now saying that they basically tried to muzzle him," Cuomo said. "He has the highest credibility in the nation on this issue."

Further restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19 came into effect in Italy on Monday, after a sharp rise in infections.

Under the new measures, all bars, pubs and restaurants across the European country must close from midnight until 5 a.m., while gambling venues must close at 9 p.m. Restaurants are allowed to serve no more than six people per table and only after 6 p.m.

Local festivals are now banned, and mayors can close streets and public squares after 9 p.m. to halt gatherings.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte warned that gyms and swimming pools may also be shut down next week if they don't follow the safety protocols.

"These measures are aimed to avoid another lockdown," Conte said Sunday while announcing the new rules. "The country cannot face another lockdown that would compromise the economic fabric of the country."

The move comes after Italy, once the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, confirmed 11,705 new cases of COVID-19 over the weekend, an all-time high.

ABC News' Phoebe Natanson contributed to this report.

Russia confirmed another 15,982 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, its highest daily tally yet.

An additional 179 deaths from COVID-19 were also registered in the past 24 hours, down from last week's peak of 286. The cumulative totals now stand at 1,369,313 cases and 23,723 deaths, according to Russia's coronavirus response headquarters.

The country of 145 million people has the fourth-highest tally of COVID-19 cases in the world, behind only the United States, India and Brazil.

More than 33% of the newly confirmed cases -- 5,376 -- and over 28% of the newly registered deaths -- 51 -- were reported in the capital, Moscow, according to country's coronavirus response headquarters.

Although Russia has been breaking its own records for daily case counts and deaths almost every day since Oct. 9, authorities there are resisting shutting down businesses again. Few measures have been imposed in Moscow, the epicenter of the country's COVID-19 outbreak and recent surge.

ABC News' Alina Lobzina contributed to this report.

More than 40 million people around the world have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, according to a real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University.

The global tally crossed the 40 million mark on Monday morning in yet another grim milestone of the pandemic.

The United States has the highest number of diagnosed cases of any country, with more than 8.1 million, but is closely followed by India, which has over 7.5 million. Brazil, Russia and Argentina are also in the top five, according to Johns Hopkins data.