Coronavirus updates: CDC issues stricter guidance for Thanksgiving

"Celebrate with people in your household," the agency says in updated guidance.

ByMorgan Winsor, Erin Schumaker, and Ivan Pereira
Video byJessie DiMartino
Last Updated: November 11, 2020, 4:02 PM EST

A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 1.2 million people worldwide.

Over 50.4 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 10 million diagnosed cases and at least 237,742 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 is developing today. All times Eastern.
Nov 09, 2020, 12:42 PM EST

US poised to surpass record-breaking 10 million COVID cases today

As a new administration prepares to take the helm in Washington, D.C., the United States is expected to surpass a staggering 10 million confirmed coronavirus cases. The expected milestone follows five consecutive days in which COVID-19 cases in the U.S. topped 100,000.

Every state in the country, except for Hawaii, is reporting an increasing number of COVID-19 cases, according to an ABC News analysis of data from The COVID Tracking Project.

Japan and China, by comparison, have reported 109,000 cases and 91,600 cases respectively as of Nov. 9, according to Johns Hopkins University.

ABC News' Soorin Kim, Brian Hartman, Benjamin Bell and Arielle Mitropoulos contributed to this report.

Nov 09, 2020, 11:35 AM EST

Sec. Ben Carson tests positive

U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday morning after experiencing symptoms that prompted him to get tested.

"Secretary Carson has tested positive for the coronavirus," Carson's chief of staff, Coalter Baker, told ABC News in a statement. "He is in good spirits and feels fortunate to have access to effective therapeutics which aid and markedly speed his recovery."

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson speaks during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Mellon Auditorium, Aug. 27, 2020, in Washington, DC.
Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images, FILE

Carson was tested at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. It was a short visit and he is no longer at the hospital.

Carson was at the White House for the Trump campaign's election night watch party on Tuesday -- an event that was also attended by White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, who also tested positive for COVID-19 last week.

ABC News' Katherine Faulders contributed to this report.

Nov 09, 2020, 10:53 AM EST

Ukraine's president tests positive

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced Monday that he has tested positive for COVID-19.

"There are no lucky people for whom #COVID19 does not pose a threat. Despite all the quarantine measures, I received a positive test," Zelensky wrote on his official Twitter account.

The former comedian-turned-president noted that he feels "good" and takes "a lot of vitamins."

"Promise to isolate myself, but keep working," he added. "I will overcome COVID19 as most people do. It's gonna be fine!"

Nov 09, 2020, 10:44 AM EST

Wales emerges from 'firebreak' lockdown as new restrictions begin

Wales emerged from its 17-day "firebreak" lockdown on Monday, with pubs, gyms, hair salons, restaurants and schools allowed to reopen.

But as the lockdown restrictions ended, new ones went into effect. People cannot travel in or out of the country, including to neighboring England, without a "reasonable excuse." Two households can again join together to form a bubble and meet up inside their homes. People can meet in groups of four inside cafes, bars, pubs and restaurants, which can serve alcohol until 10 p.m.

Businesses that were forced to shutter during lockdown can now reopen, while supermarkets can again sell non-essential goods. People are still required to work from home whenever possible.

Police patrol in central Cardiff, Wales, on Nov. 9, 2020, after the end of a two-week "firebreak" lockdown imposed by the Welsh government.
Ben Birchall/PA via AP

Wales' First Minister Mark Drakeford called on people to be "careful and cautious."

"The fact that you can travel is not an invitation to travel and it's certainly not an instruction to travel," Drakeford said at a press conference Monday.

Drakeford said it's still too early to know whether the "firebreak" was a success but there were "tentative positive signs," including a plateauing case rate.

"We cannot go back to the way we were living our lives and throw away all that hard work," he added.

Wales' lockdown ended just a few days after England entered a month-long lockdown on Nov. 5.

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