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The novel coronavirus pandemic has killed over 1.1 million people worldwide.

ByMorgan Winsor, Emily Shapiro, and Ivan Pereira
Video byJessie DiMartino
Last Updated: October 28, 2020, 12:57 PM EDT

A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 1.1 million people worldwide.

Over 44.3 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 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. The criteria for diagnosis -- through clinical means or a lab test -- has also varied from country to country.

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 nation, with more than 8.8 million diagnosed cases and at least 227,673 deaths.

Nearly 200 vaccine candidates for COVID-19 are being tracked by the World Health Organization, at least 10 of which are in crucial phase three studies. Of those 10 potential vaccines in late-stage trials, there are currently five that will be available in the United States if approved.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news developed today. All times Eastern.
Oct 28, 2020, 12:57 PM EDT

Germany to close restaurants, bars for 4 weeks

German officials have agreed to a partial shutdown, shuttering restaurants, bars and theaters for four weeks as COVID-19 cases climb, Chancellor Angela Merkel said, according to The Associated Press.

Police and public order officers enforce the wearing of masks during a rally against coronavirus restrictions in Cologne, Germany, Oct. 28, 2020.
Sascha Steinbach/EPA-EFE via Shutterstock

Germany has reported a record 14,964 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the nation’s total to over 464,000 cases, according to the Robert Koch Institute.

At least 10,183 people in Germany have died.

ABC News' Christine Theodorou contributed to this report.

Oct 28, 2020, 12:18 PM EDT

Fauci says we won’t have ‘some semblance of normality’ until at least 2021

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told Australians on Wednesday, "I think it will be easily by the end of 2021, and perhaps into the next year, before we start having some semblance of normality."

Fauci defined "normal" as packing theaters and restaurants operating at full capacity, according to The Age.

Fauci applauded Australia's response to the pandemic.

"Australia is one of the countries that has done quite well. New Zealand has done well," he said, according to The Age.

PHOTO: People return to the Bourke Street Mall to shop at the retail stores on Oct. 28, 2020, in Melbourne, Australia.
People return to the Bourke Street Mall to shop at the retail stores on Oct. 28, 2020, in Melbourne, Australia. Lockdown restrictions in Melbourne lifted as of midnight with people able to leave their home for any reason. Melbourne has been subject to Stage 4 restrictions since Aug. 3, 2020 with residents under stay at home orders following a second wave of COVID-19 cases in the community.
Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

"I would like to say the same for the U.S., but the numbers speak for themselves," Fauci said, describing the U.S. as "getting worse and worse."

Oct 28, 2020, 11:47 AM EDT

Wisconsin football on pause following 12 COVID-19 cases

The University of Wisconsin football team is pausing all activities for at least one week following an “elevated number” of COVID-19 cases, the team announced.

As of Wednesday morning, 12 people – six athletes and six staff members -- had tested positive within the last five days, the team said.

The stands at Camp Randall Stadium are empty during the first half of an NCAA college football game between Wisconsin and Illinois, Oct. 23, 2020, in Madison, Wis.
Morry Gash/AP, FILE

Wisconsin was set to plan Nebraska on Saturday but the game has been canceled.

Oct 28, 2020, 9:07 AM EDT

Poland sees record rise in new cases

Poland confirmed another 18,820 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, its highest single-day increase yet.

An additional 236 fatalities from COVID-19 were also registered across the Central European country in the past 24 hours, according to the Polish Ministry of Health.

A health worker wearing personal protective equipment waits for people at a COVID-19 test center in front of a hospital in Warsaw, Poland, on Oct. 27, 2020.
Kacper Pempel/Reuters

Poland's cumulative total currently stands at 299,049 cases with 4,851 deaths.

Meanwhile, nearly 14,000 COVID-19 patients remained hospitalized in Poland as of Wednesday morning, including 1,150 who are on ventilators, the health ministry said.