Coronavirus updates: 84% of California population to go on lockdown Sunday night

More than 33 million people in the state will be affected by the lockdown.

Last Updated: December 7, 2020, 8:34 AM EST

A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now infected more than 66.4 million people and killed over 1.5 million worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news developed this week. All times Eastern.
Dec 01, 2020, 6:07 PM EST

CDC plans to shorten recommended quarantine time for people exposed to COVID

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told Vice President Mike Pence and other attendees at Tuesday's White House coronavirus task force meeting that it planned to release guidance that would shorten the length of time it recommended people quarantine after being exposed to COVID-19, according to a senior Trump administration official who was at the meeting.

It will recommend COVID-exposed people with a negative test quarantine for seven days, which is down from 14 days, and that COVID-exposed people with no test quarantine for 10 days (also down from 14 days), according to the official.

The New York Times first reported on this news from Tuesday's meeting.

Assistant Health and Human Services Secretary Adm. Brett Giroir said last week the administration had been “actively working on that type of guidance” and was “reviewing the evidence.”

The official said the move was “100% data-driven.”
-ABC News' Ben Gittleson

Dec 01, 2020, 3:49 PM EST

Florida tops 1 million cases

Florida has over 1 million confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to the latest data from the state's Health Department.

A health care worker collects a COVID-19 test sample at a drive-thru testing center at the Miami Beach Convention Center, Nov. 18, 2020, in Miami Beach, Fla.
David Santiago/AP, FILE

The state reported 8,847 new cases on Tuesday, for a total of 1,008,166. There have been 18,916 deaths. 

Florida is the third state to cross 1 million COVID-19 cases, following Texas and California last month.

ABC News' Scott Withers contributed to this report

Dec 01, 2020, 2:38 PM EST

Over 1.3 million US children have tested positive

More than 1.3 million children in the U.S. have tested positive for COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, according to a weekly report by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association.

The report, which compiles state-by-state data on cases in children, found that 153,608 new cases were reported the week ending with Nov. 26 -- that number is the highest weekly increase since the pandemic began.

The total number of children in the U.S. who tested positive for the coronavirus is now 1,337,217, according to the report, which is based on the age distribution of reported cases on health department websites of 49 states, New York City, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam.

Children represented 12% of all cases in states reporting cases by age, the report states.

-ABC News' Eric Strauss contributed to this report.

Dec 01, 2020, 1:07 PM EST

White House to hold 'Vaccine Summit'

The White House is planning to host a "COVID-19 Vaccine Summit" on Dec. 8, according to deputy press secretary Brian Morgenstern.

President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, as well as several governors and executives from the private sector, plan to participate in the meeting, Morgenstern told ABC News.

The meeting is scheduled two days before the Food and Drug Administration's Advisory Committee on Immunizations is scheduled to consider Pfizer's application for the emergency use authorization for its vaccine.

"The President looks forward to convening leaders from the federal government, state governments, private sector, military, and scientific community for a comprehensive discussion with the American people as the Administration prepares to deliver this historic, life-saving vaccine to every zip code in the United States within 24 hours of an FDA approval," Morgenstern said in a statement.

It does not appear that members of President-elect Joe Biden's incoming administration had been invited to the meeting. Given that the presidential inauguration is scheduled for Jan. 20, it is likely that Biden would be president when most of the vaccine distribution would occur.

-ABC News' Ben Gittleson and Brian Hartman contributed to this report.

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