Coronavirus updates: US reports nearly 300,000 new cases in all-time high

A staggering 299,087 new cases were confirmed over the past 24 hours.

ByRosa Sanchez, Erin Schumaker, Ivan Pereira, Emily Shapiro, Meredith Deliso, and Morgan Winsor
Last Updated: January 4, 2021, 4:07 AM EST

A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now infected more than 84.6 million people worldwide and killed over 1.8 million of them, 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 28, 2020, 6:57 PM EST

LA County approaching 10,000 COVID deaths

Los Angeles Country recorded 44 new coronavirus deaths Monday, bringing the total number of fatalities to 9,555, according to the county Health Department.

LA County Director of Public Health, Dr. Barbara Ferrer noted that the county is on its way to a stark milestone.

A Registered Nurse works with a covid positive patient inside the ICU at Providence St. Jude Medical Center on Dec. 25, 2020 in Fullerton, Calif.
Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times via Getty Imags

"[We] could be approaching a total number of 10,000 deaths shortly, which will be the saddest number since the start of the pandemic," she said at a news conference.

Roughly 13,661 new cases were reported Monday and the county hospitalization rate is now at 6,914, the highest since the pandemic began, according to Ferrer.

"Last week we lost someone due to COVID-19 every 10-15 minutes," she said.

In the meantime, the county has administered 66,628 doses of the coronavirus vaccine at acute care hospitals and 1,478 doses at skilled nursing facilities as of Dec. 26, according to the Health Department.

-ABC News' Cammeron Parrish contributed to this report.

Dec 28, 2020, 5:55 PM EST

Kamala Harris to receive COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff will receive the COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday morning in Washington D.C, the Biden transition team confirmed to ABC News on Monday.

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris listens during a national security conference video call at transition headquarters in Wilmington, Del., Dec. 28, 2020.
Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

President-elect Joe Biden received the first dose of the two-dose vaccine on live television last week.

-ABC News' Beatrice Peterson contributed to this report.

Dec 28, 2020, 4:53 PM EST

96% of LA hospitals weren't accepting ambulances on Saturday

On Saturday, 96% of hospitals in Los Angeles County were "on diversion" at some point, meaning they temporarily stopped accepting new ambulances into their emergency rooms, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom.

On average, those hospitals were on diversion for 16 hours straight, the governor said Monday. While hospitalizations are plateauing in much of the state, they're still rapidly rising in Southern California, where ICU capacity is at 0%.

-ABC News' Matthew Fuhrman contributed to this report.

Dec 28, 2020, 4:03 PM EST

Nursing home that was site of 1st US outbreak begins vaccinating residents and staff

Life Care Center of Kirkland, the Washington State nursing facility where 39 residents died during a coronavirus outbreak in February and March, began vaccinating staff and residents against the virus on Monday.

The nursing home was the site of the the United States' first outbreak. Now, roughly 10 months after Kirkland showcased how vulnerable long-term care facilities were to COVID-19, CVS is distributing the vaccine there.

Alice Cortez, nurse manager at the Life Care Center of Kirkland, receives a COVID-19 vaccine from CVS pharmacist Matt Talavera on Dec. 28, 2020, in Kirkland, Wash.
Karen Ducey/Getty Images

Ellie Schutt, executive director of Life Care Center of Kirkland, said everyone is thankful the vaccine is available and being administered.

"But it means a little more to see vaccinations happening at Kirkland," Schutt said in a statement.

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