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, 2:13 PM 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, 2:02 PM EST

Surgeon general says wife admitted to hospital over cancer treatment complications and he can't visit

U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams tweeted Thursday morning that his wife had been admitted to a hospital because of complications with her cancer treatment. He said he wasn’t allowed to visit her because of COVID-19-related restrictions.

Surgeon General Jerome Adams speaks to the media outside the White House, Dec. 21, 2020 in Washington, DC.
Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

Adams’ wife, Lacey Adams, was first diagnosed with metastatic melanoma in 2018.

“I’m hoping she doesn’t have to spend New Year’s in a hallway because the beds are full,” Adams tweeted.

ABC News’ Ben Gittleson and Tom Dunlavey contributed to this report.

Dec 31, 2020, 1:18 PM EST

US death toll is 114 times the total lives lost on Sept. 11

At least 342,734 lives have been lost to COVID-19 in the U.S., representing approximately 18.9% of the total global death toll of 1.8 million people.

One in every 965 Americans has now died from the virus, according to ABC News’ of data compiled by the COVID Tracking Project.

Gabriel Cervera briefly rests on an empty hospital bed within the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) unit at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, Texas, Dec. 30, 2020.
Callaghan O'hare/Reuters

The U.S. death toll is 114 times the total lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001, and just over half the total number of deaths that were recorded in U.S. during the 1918 influenza pandemic.

At least 19.7 million Americans have tested positive for COVID-19 in the 345 days since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the first U.S. case on Jan. 21.

That means about 1 in every 16 Americans has contracted the virus.

COVID Check Colorado site tester Kellen Taylor administers a COVID test at Echo Park Stadium on Dec. 30, 2020 in Parker, Colorado.
Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images

ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos contributed to this report.

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."

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