Coronavirus updates: Los Angeles to prohibit gatherings, close playgrounds

The United Parcel Service (UPS) said it will start making dry ice in its U.S. facilities and will provide portable freezers to aid in the massive distribution efforts for COVID-19 vaccines in the coming months.

The Atlanta-based global shipping and logistics company said it can now produce up to 1,200 lbs of dry ice per hour in its U.S. facilities to support the storage and transportation of cold chain products, such as frozen vaccines, in accordance with manufacturer storage requirements. The increased production also allows UPS to make dry ice available for American and Canadian hospitals, clinics and other points of care requiring dry ice to store vaccines locally.

"Enhancing our dry ice production capabilities increases our supply chain agility and reliability immensely when it comes to handling complex vaccines for our customers," Wes Wheeler, president of UPS's new healthcare logistics unit, said in a statement Tuesday. "Healthcare facilities in Louisville, Dallas and Ontario will ensure we have the capability to produce dry ice to sufficiently pack and replenish shipments as needed to keep products viable and effective."

In addition to dry ice production, UPS is teaming up with Stirling Ultracold, a division of Global Cooling, Inc., to supply portable ultra-low temperature freezers to thermally protect critical vaccines requiring temperatures ranging from -20 to -80 degrees Celsius. The portable freezers will be distributed and used in smaller facilities that need a more permanent solution for longer-term freezer storage.

"This program will help ensure vaccines remain effective next year, and for years to come, as future vaccines and biologics are developed to keep the world healthy and safe," Stirling Ultracold CEO Dusty Tenney said in a statement Tuesday.

Some 778,000 workers lost their jobs and filed for unemployment insurance last week, the Department of Labor said Wednesday. 

This is an uptick of 30,000 compared to the previous week, and the second consecutive week that the weekly tally has risen after it was on the decline for months. 

The DOL also said Wednesday that more than 20 million people were still receiving some form of unemployment benefits through all programs as of the week ending Nov. 7. For the comparable week in 2019, that figure was 1.5 million. 

The latest economic data from the DOL comes as new virus cases surge across the country, and highlight a slow economic recovery. It also comes, however, as Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a new milestone of trading above 30,000 on Tuesday -- a further indication that the stock market remains divorced from the economic pain millions of Americans still face as the coronavirus crisis rages on. 

ABC News’ Catherine Thorbecke contributed to this report.

America's top infectious disease expert is urging the nation to keep indoor gatherings as small as possible over Thanksgiving to prevent further spread of the novel coronavirus.

"We all know how difficult that is because this is such a beautiful, traditional holiday. But by making that sacrifice, you're going to prevent people from getting infected," Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos in an interview Wednesday on "Good Morning America."

"A sacrifice now could save lives and illness and make the future much brighter as we get through this," he continued. "We're going to get through this. Vaccines are right on the horizon. If we can just hang in there a bit longer and continue to do the simple mitigation things that we're talking about all the time -- the masks, the distancing, the avoiding crowds, particularly indoor. If we do those things, we're going to get through it. So that's my final plea before the holiday."

Fauci, a leading member of the current White House coronavirus task force, warned of "yet another surge" of COVID-19 infections if people don't heed his advice over the holiday.

Although he acknowledged that the country's current surge in cases is driven by larger indoor gatherings such as bars, Fauci noted that "there still is transmission among gatherings that appear to be relatively innocent."

"Now, I don't mean two, three, four people in a room. We're talking about when people might have a modest size and let their guard down," he added. "When you stay away from the bars, when you stay away from the big, congregate settings, there still is a danger if you bring people into the home who are not part of the immediate household. There is a risk there."

Fauci also said he is "greatly" concerned by the number of people who are already showing hesitancy to taking a COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available. He noted that "independent bodies of people who, in fact, have no allegiance to an administration or to a company" will be charged with deciding whether the vaccine is both safe and effective for the public.

"The process by which the vaccines were made were a standard process that was rapid because of exquisite scientific advances and the investment of an extraordinary amount money. It did not compromise safety and it did not compromise scientific integrity," he said. "That's what the public needs to understand, that the process is transparent and its independent."

The solution to the coronavirus pandemic, Fauci said, will be "a combination of public health measures and a safe and effective vaccine."

"It would really be terrible if we have, which we do, three now and maybe more highly efficacious vaccines and people don't take it," he added. "We could crush this outbreak exactly the way we did years ago with smallpox, with polio and with measles. It is doable."

The global acceleration in COVID-19 cases has slowed down over the past week, with around 4 million new cases and over 67,000 additional deaths from the disease reported worldwide. However, Europe remains the largest contributor to those cases and deaths, according to the latest weekly epidemiological report from the World Health Organization.

The report, released Tuesday evening, said the number of new cases in the European region declined by 6% in the last week, after a decline of 10% in the previous week, "in a sign that the reintroduction of stricter public health and social measures in a number of countries over the last few weeks is beginning to slow down transmission."

The European region still accounts for 44% of global new cases and 49% of global new deaths. While new cases have declined, new deaths in the region have continued to rise, according to the report.

Italy reported the highest number of new cases in the European region and the third-highest globally, but the country still saw a slight decline of 3% in the last week. The number of new deaths in Italy increased by 26%.

"The northern Italy provinces of Valle d’Aosta, Bolzano and Piemonte report the highest number of cases," the report said. "Media reports have highlighted concerns of the large number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care, and the growing number of health worker infections, straining local healthcare capacities."

The number of new cases in the United Kingdom fell by 13% from last week, the first weekly decline since late August. But the number of new deaths in the country remained similar to the previous week.

"The United Kingdom currently has the fifth- highest number of new cases in the European Region, and the eighth highest number worldwide," the report said, "however, per capita case incidence remains lower than many other countries in the Region.