Coronavirus updates: US will soon have 'half a million' deaths, CDC says

The U.S. is forecast to have almost 500,000 COVID-19 deaths by mid-February.

ByMorgan Winsor, Erin Schumaker, Emily Shapiro, and Julia Jacobo
Last Updated: January 18, 2021, 7:55 AM EST

A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now infected more than 94.2 million people worldwide and killed over 2 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.
Jan 14, 2021, 10:00 AM EST

Another member of Congress tests positive

U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., announced Thursday that he has tested positive for COVID-19, one day after attending the impeachment vote on the House floor.

Democratic House Rep. Adriano Espaillat is interviewed by Roll Call in his Longworth office, March 9, 2017.
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Espaillat said he is following guidance from his physician and is quarantining at home.

"I received the second dose of the #COVID19vaccine last week and understand the affects take time," Espaillat wrote on Twitter. "I have continued to be tested regularly, wear my mask and follow the recommended guidelines."

Eight lawmakers have tested positive for COVID-19 since the Jan. 6 siege on the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C.

ABC News’ Ben Siegel contributed to this report.

Jan 14, 2021, 9:29 AM EST

WHO experts investigating virus origins arrive in Wuhan

An international team of 13 scientists researching the origins of COVID-19 arrived Thursday in Wuhan, China, where the novel coronavirus was first discovered, according to the World Health Organization.

"The experts will begin their work immediately during the 2 weeks quarantine protocol for international travelers," the WHO wrote on Twitter.

PHOTO: A worker in protective coverings directs members of the World Health Organization (WHO) team on their arrival at the airport in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province, Jan. 14, 2021.
A worker in protective coverings directs members of the World Health Organization (WHO) team on their arrival at the airport in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province, Jan. 14, 2021. A global team of researchers arrived in the Chinese city where the coronavirus pandemic was first detected to conduct a politically sensitive investigation into its origins amid uncertainty about whether Beijing might try to prevent embarrassing discoveries.
Ng Han Guan/AP

All team members had to be tested for COVID-19 again in Singapore before flying to China. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests were all negative, but two IgM antibody tests returned positive results. Those two scientists remain in Singapore as they are retested, according to the WHO.

Jan 14, 2021, 8:45 AM EST

965,000 US workers filed jobless claims last week

A total of 965,000 workers in the United States filed jobless claims last week, the U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday, an increase of 181,000 from the prior week.

Sale signs are displayed in the window of a business on Dec. 1, 2020, in New York.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images, FILE

The Labor Department also said that more than 18 million people were still receiving some form of unemployment benefits through all government programs for the week ending Dec. 26. For the comparable week in 2019, that figure was just above 2 million.

The weekly unemployment tally has fallen since peaking at 6.9 million in March but still remains elevated by historical standards.

The pre-pandemic record for weekly unemployment filings was 695,000 in 1982.

That record has been broken every week since late March.

As of last month, the unemployment rate in the U.S. was 6.7%. It was 3.5% last February.

-ABC News’ Catherine Thorbecke contributed to this report

Jan 14, 2021, 8:19 AM EST

US could see up to 477,000 COVID-19 deaths by Feb. 6

This week’s national ensemble forecast released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicts that 16,200 to 29,600 more Americans will likely die from COVID-19 in the week ending Feb. 2.

The national ensemble estimates a total of 440,000 to 477,000 deaths from the disease will be reported nationwide by that date.

Related Topics