A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now infected more than 61 million people and killed over 1.4 million worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Here's how the news developed this week. All times Eastern.
Nov 24, 2020, 8:14 PM EST
Minnesota pauses football program, cancels Wisconsin game due
The University of Minnesota has paused its football program and canceled Saturday's game against Wisconsin due to a "sudden increase" in COVID-19 cases, officials said.
Nine student-athletes and six staff members have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last five days, officials said Tuesday. The program is also awaiting confirmation of additional presumptive positive tests.
The numbers marked a "sudden increase in positive cases," Dr. Brad Nelson, the department's medical director, said in a statement. The pause "will allow the team to focus on stopping the spread of the virus," he said.
The cancellation marks the first time Minnesota and Wisconsin won't play in 113 consecutive years, ending the longest uninterrupted series in Football Bowl Subdivision history, according to ESPN.
Saturday's game at Wisconsin will not be rescheduled, per Big Ten policy, and will be ruled a no contest.
Minnesota officials said they hope to be healthy enough to play Northwestern on Dec. 5.
Nov 24, 2020, 6:36 PM EST
White House testing czar warns of false sense of security with negative COVID test
With holiday travel approaching, a top White House coronavirus official warned against a false sense of security that a negative COVID-19 test might provide.
"Please remember that a negative test today does not mean you will be negative tomorrow or in a few days afterwards," Adm. Brett Giroir, assistant secretary of health at the Department of Health and Human Services, said on a call with reporters Tuesday. "We know that a single test can provide false senses of security. You still have to wear your mask and everything else."
"If you're negative today, you could be positive by Thanksgiving or Friday," he continued. "You can get it while you're traveling on vacation."
Giroir confirmed that the Trump administration is considering shortening the recommended coronavirus quarantine time from 14 days to 10 days, complemented by a negative test administered on day seven or 10 -- as first reported by The Wall Street Journal. They are "right now reviewing the evidence," he said.
Demand for testing ahead of the holiday continues to strain the diagnostics system, prompting recurrent warnings from major labs that turnaround times may be delayed. Testing could become even further strapped if a shortened quarantine would require a negative test.
Assistant Health and Human Services Secretary Brett Giroir is seated prior to U.S. President Donald Trump delivering an update on the so-called Operation Warp Speed program, the joint Defense Department and HHS initiative that has struck deals with several drugmakers in an effort to help speed up the search for effective treatments for the COVID-19 pandemic, in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, D.C., Nov. 13, 2020.
Carlos Barria/Reuters, File
When asked if the system has the ability to handle such widespread asymptomatic screening, Giroir said he was "certainly cognizant" of the turnaround times and was doing "everything possible to increase those supplies."
"Asymptomatic testing is very important, but we need to do that on targeted populations," he said. "We're not at the point that sort of every American can test themselves every day, without a reason to do that. We are trying to build that infrastructure."
ABC News' Sasha Pezenik contributed to this report
Nov 24, 2020, 4:59 PM EST
California 'in the midst of a surge,' health secretary says
California is "in the midst of a surge," as the COVID-19 test positivity rate has increased 51% in two weeks, state Health Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said.
"These numbers are really going up and going up quickly," Ghaly said during a press briefing Tuesday.
The state reported 15,329 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday. The 14-day positivity rate is 5.6%.
COVID-19 hospitalizations have gone up 81.3% over the last 14 days, and intensive care unit hospitalizations increased 57.1% during that period. There are currently 5,844 hospitalizations and 1,397 ICU hospitalizations in the state.
Ghaly warned that 12% of today's cases end up hospitalized about two to three weeks later, and that ICU units in parts of the state are already being pressed.
Four more counties also moved to California's most restrictive reopening tier on Tuesday, bringing the total number of "purple" counties to 45 -- nearly 95% of the state's population. No counties are left in the yellow tier, the least restrictive of the four.
ABC News' Bonnie Mclean contributed to this report
Nov 24, 2020, 4:38 PM EST
COVID-19 deaths rates increased worldwide in past week: WHO
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
