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

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey issued an executive order Wednesday to speed up access to the COVID-19 vaccine in the state.

The Arizona Department of Health Services will take the lead in the vaccination rollout under the order. The department is tasked with establishing and delivering a statewide implementation model.

Currently, Arizona counties are responsible for their own implementation plans.

"This is a health emergency, and we need all levels of government and our health system operating as such. Vaccines don't do any good sitting in a freezer," Ducey said in a statement.

The state health department will have the authority to establish private distribution sites, according to the executive order.

There is no statewide data for vaccinations. The executive order mandates that all counties display their vaccination numbers on their websites and share the info with the state health department.

Maricopa County, which leads the state with over 314,000 cases, has administered at least 36,000 doses as of Wednesday, according to the county's health department.

Los Angeles County officials said the National Guard will be deployed next week to assist the medical examiner's office with its growing number of COVID-related deaths.

Hilda Solis, the chair of Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, said six guardsmen will arrive on Jan. 4.

"They will be assisting until the end of January. It might be extended if warranted," she said at a news conference.

The deployment comes as the county recorded 274 additional deaths Wednesday, bringing the death toll to 10,056.

"The average number of deaths is about 150 people a day," Dr. Barbara Ferrer, the director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, said at a news conference.

ABC News' Michelle Mendez contributed to this report.

The new COVID-19 variant, which was confirmed in one person in Colorado on Tuesday, has now been detected in Southern California, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday.

Health officials in San Diego later said at a press conference the variant was found in their city, and the 30-year-old man had no history of travel, just like the person in Colorado. He has not been hospitalized, but contact tracing is underway and more cases are expected, officials said.

Dr. Anthony Fauci said to Newsom, "I am not surprised that you have a case and likely more cases in California and we will likely be seeing reports from other states."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it expects "there will be additional cases that are likely to be detected."

"Viruses constantly change through mutation, and new variants of a virus are expected to occur over time," the CDC said.

The variant doesn't appear to cause more severe disease or mortality, but does appear to have a higher transmission rate, the CDC said.

This comes as hard-hit California has reached a new record daily death toll with 432 fatalities reported in the last 24 hours, officials said Wednesday. This equals approximately one person dying every three minutes.

The Golden State has 20,612 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, including 4,389 people in intensive care units.

ICU capacity remains at 0% in the Southern California and San Joaquin Valley regions.

ABC News’ Jenna Harrison contributed to this report.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released its forecast for coronavirus-related deaths over the next four weeks.

The agency, which used 33 models, predicted 12,400 to 24,300 new deaths will likely be reported between now and the week ending Jan. 23.

"The national ensemble predicts that a total of 383,000 to 424,000 COVID-19 deaths will be reported by this date," the CDC said.

By comparison, the population of New Orleans is 391,000, according to U.S. Census data.

ABC News' Brian Reiferson contributed to this report.