US sets new daily case record for 2nd straight day

The U.S. reached its single-day record with over 90,000 COVID-19 cases.

ByWilliam Mansell and Emily Shapiro
Last Updated: November 2, 2020, 4:36 AM EST

Over 45.4 million people across the globe have been diagnosed with COVID-19, 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.

COVID-19 has killed more than 1.18 million people worldwide.

The United States is the worst-affected nation, with more than 9 million diagnosed cases and at least 229,585 lives lost.

The U.S. battle against the pandemic is headed in a dangerous direction as the nation reached its single-day record for cases on Thursday, according to the COVID Tracking Project.

Forty-two states and territories are in an upward trajectory of new cases, according to an internal Health and Human Services memo obtained by ABC News.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news developed Friday. All times Eastern.
Oct 30, 2020, 3:19 PM EDT

Belgium introduces strict 'last-chance measures'

Belgium, Europe’s hardest-hit nation at this time, is introducing strict new rules.

Nonessential businesses are closing for six weeks and a nighttime curfew is in place. Outside gatherings are limited to three people, and residents can only have one person over to their home.

Prime Minister Alexander De Croo called these "last-chance measures" as Belgium hopes to prevent the collapse of its health care system.

Belgium reported a 21.1% positivity rate on Tuesday. Last week, there were an average of 13,052 new cases reported each day.

ABC News’ Aicha el Hammar and Kirit Radia contributed to this report.

Oct 30, 2020, 3:11 PM EDT

Illinois reports record high number of cases

Illinois on Friday reported 6,943 cases, exceeding Thursday's record of 6,363.

“Things are moving in a bad direction all across our state,” Gov. JB Pritzker said. "We have a real problem on our hands and people’s lives hang in the balance."

Exam Corp Lab employee, right, wears a mask as she talks with a patient lined up for COVID-19 testing in Niles, Ill., Oct. 21, 2020.
Nam Y. Huh/AP

The state's seven-day positivity rate has increased to 8.5%. At least 402,000 people have been diagnosed, and at least 9,711 have died.

ABC News’ Will Gretsky contributed to this report.

Oct 30, 2020, 2:24 PM EDT

Ohio breaks yet another daily case record

Ohio reached a record number of daily cases for the second day in a row on Friday, Gov. Mike DeWine said.

With 3,845 more cases in the last 24 hours, the state now has over 212,000 people diagnosed.

A billboard shows a man wearing a Coronavirus safety face mask in Cleveland, Ohio, Sept. 30, 2020.
Brian Snyder/Reuters, FILE

Sixteen more people died in Ohio in the last 24 hours, bringing the state’s death toll to 5,291, according to state data.

Oct 30, 2020, 2:00 PM EDT

Georgia governor quarantining after exposure

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and his wife are quarantining after learning on Friday that they “were recently exposed to an individual who received a positive test,” tweeted Kemp’s press secretary, Cody Hall.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and first lady Marty Kemp at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital, July 16, 2020, in Marietta, Ga.
Mike Stewart/AP, FILE

Kemp and the first lady, Marty Kemp, have since been tested, Hall said. Results of their tests have not yet been released.