Coronavirus updates: Los Angeles to prohibit gatherings, close playgrounds

COVID-19 fatality rates continue to increase globally, with more than 67,000 new deaths reported in the week ending Nov. 22, according to the World Health Organization. 

That continues an upward trend since mid-October, according to the WHO's weekly global epidemiological situation report.

The European region is the largest global contributor of new cases and fatalities, with Italy reporting the highest number of new cases in the region and the third-highest globally. Cases have decreased 6% in Europe, "a sign that the re-introduction of stricter public health and social measures ... is beginning to slow transmission," the report said.

The U.S. reported a 14% increase in cases and a 23% increase in deaths, according to the report. Fatalities nearly doubled over previous weeks in Puerto Rico.

The African region reported the highest increase in new cases (15%) and deaths (30%) this week, according to the report. 

ABC News' Christine Theodorou contributed to this report

France will begin lifting its COVID-19 restrictions this week, President Emmanuel Macron announced.

"The peak of the second wave of the epidemic has passed," Macron said Tuesday during an address to the nation, but warned the virus remains "very present" in France.  

The president outlined three stages of opening. Starting Saturday, all businesses can reopen until 9 p.m., and at-home services, such as hairdressers, can resume. Religious services up to 30 people will be permitted, and more outdoor activity will be allowed. Residents still need permission slips to leave their homes.

The country's lockdown could end by Dec. 15 if COVID-19 cases are below 5,000 per day, Macron said. At that stage, residents will no longer need permission slips to move about, including between regions, and can celebrate family holidays. Cinemas, theaters and museums will be able to reopen, and a nightly curfew will operate from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m.

By Jan. 20, if cases are below 5,000 per day, restaurants, bars, cafes and gyms can reopen, and the curfew will be reduced. High schools will also fully reopen for in-person learning, followed by universities 15 days later.

Authorities are working to make testing more efficient, with the goal of having test results within 24 hours by Jan. 20, Macron said.

The president also announced financial support for those affected by lockdowns; restaurants, bars, nightclubs and sports halls can receive 20% of their turnover for the year 2019, if it is more than the 10,000 euros, from the existing "solidarity fund." 

ABC News' Ibtissem Guenfoud contributed to this report

Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine candidate could be distributed "soon after Dec. 10," Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said during an Operation Warp Speed briefing Tuesday.

Pfizer applied for emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration last week, and a hearing date was set for Dec. 10 to discuss the vaccine's possible authorization.

"If all goes well, we could be distributing vaccines soon after Dec. 10," possibly within 24 hours of FDA authorization, Azar said.

Elderly care facilities and health care providers will be the first to be offered the vaccine, according to U.S. officials.

Officials addressed an increase in vaccine hesitancy amidst the race to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and public health leaders are working on a campaign to educate the public on the need to be vaccinated and the safety and efficacy of the vaccine, Azar said.

“I will get myself vaccinated as soon as I will be allowed to be vaccinated, to demonstrate to the American people my complete confidence in the independence and integrity of the process and the quality of any vaccine that I would make available to the American people,” Azar later added.

ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos contributed to this report

At least 26 U.S. states and the nation's capital have seen the seven-day average of their daily COVID-19 cases double since the beginning of the month, according to an ABC News analysis of trends across the country.

In addition to Washington D.C., those 26 states are Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia and Wyoming.

The national monthly tally of cases also continues to increase rapidly. There have been at least 20 straight days where the country as a whole has confirmed more than 100,000 new cases in a 24-hour reporting period. Over 3.1 million cases have been confirmed so far in just the month of November, which would be roughly the equivalent to a theoretical scenario where the entire state of Utah had tested positive for COVID-19 in the last three weeks.

Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized across the United States has doubled in the past month, with 12 states reporting a record number of hospitalizations on Monday.

The United States is now averaging more than 1,500 new COVID-19 fatalities every day, a rate of more than one death reported per minute. The national seven-day average of daily deaths is also now twice as high as it was just a month ago.

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.

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