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: December 31, 2020, 11:18 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 31, 2020, 11:18 AM EST

112-year-old woman, Massachusetts’ oldest resident, gets vaccine

The oldest resident of Massachusetts, 112-year-old Hazel Plummer, received her first dose of the vaccine on Wednesday.

Plummer was among the 49 residents and 50 employees at the Life Care Center of Nashoba Valley, a nursing home in Littleton, Massachusetts, to do so.

Hazel Plummer, 112, receives the COVID-19 vaccination at the Life Care Center of Nashoba Valley in Somerville, Mass., Dec. 30, 2020.
via WCVB

The Life Care Center of Nashoba Valley suffered from the coronavirus outbreak in the spring but “was free of COVID-19 by the end of May,” the facility said.

ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos contributed to this report.

Dec 31, 2020, 11:09 AM EST

Wuhan rings in the new year

Women hold light balloons as people gather to celebrate the arrival of the new year during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Wuhan, China, Dec. 31, 2020.
Tingshu Wang/Reuters

Wuhan was the first epicenter of the pandemic, but the central Chinese metropolis of 11 million emerged out of lockdown in mid-April and has not had a reported case since May.

In New York City, no New Year’s revelers will be gathering in Times Square to watch the ball drop this year.

Times Square in New York City is empty while preparations for the new year celebrations are made, Dec. 30, 2020.
Andrew H Walker/Rex via Shutterstock

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said this is "the most moving New Year's Eve," but urged New Yorkers to "watch on TV. Don't go down there."

Dec 31, 2020, 10:20 AM EST

787,000 unemployment claims filed in last week

There were 787,000 new unemployment claims filed in one week, according to the Labor Department. This number is slightly lower than last week's, but still higher than anything seen before the pandemic.

There are currently 19,563,905 total claims being filed for unemployment through different government programs.

ABC News’ Zunaira Zaki contributed to this report.

Dec 31, 2020, 9:46 AM EST

US sees record high death toll for 2nd day in a row

The U.S. has seen a record high daily death toll for the second day in a row, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

Funeral home transporter Reggie Elliott prepares a body near empty cardbox caskets at Maryland Cremation Services in Millersville, Md., on Dec. 23, 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Andrew Caballero-reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

There were 3,744 COVID-19 deaths reported Wednesday, the highest since start of the pandemic, surpassing the previous record of 3,725 deaths reported Tuesday.

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