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, 9:03 PM EST

Newly identified US variant may have emerged in May, study indicates 

A newly identified variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 may have emerged in the U.S. in May and could be one of the predominant versions circulating now, researchers at Southern Illinois University found.

Just because a new variant has emerged doesn't mean it's inherently dangerous, experts cautioned. It’s unknown if this new U.S. variant is more transmissible and deadly, but scientists say they are monitoring and continuing to study newly emerging viral variants. On Wednesday, researchers at Ohio State reported two newly identified ones. On Thursday, researchers at Southern Illinois University said they also identified a new variant, which is likely the same as the two identified in Ohio.

Patients are held in the hallway as St.Mary Medical Center resorts to using tents outside to handle the overflow at its 200 bed hospital during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Apple Valley, Calif., Jan. 12, 2021.
Mike Blake/Reuters

Now, researchers at Southern Illinois University are sharing even more details about this U.S. variant, which they are calling 20C-US. Origins of this variant can be traced to May 2020 from a sample in Texas, they said. 

The 20C-US variant appears to be widespread in the Upper Midwest and comprises roughly 50% of the samples in the U.S., said Keith T. Gagnon, coauthor of the study and associate professor at Southern Illinois University. 

"Let’s not get overly excited -- but be diligent," Gagon said. "Here it was, underneath our noses, for months."

“It doesn't look like it’s going to get in the way of vaccines," Gagnon added. 

Pharmacist Brian Meyer holds a Moderna COVID-19 vaccine vial for a photo, Jan. 5, 2021, at Sunflower Pharmacy in Odessa, Texas.
Eli Hartman/Odessa American via AP

ABC News’ Sean Llewellyn, Eric Strauss and Sony Salzman contributed to this report.

Jan 14, 2021, 3:47 PM EST

Texas is 1st US state to administer 1 million vaccines

Texas, home to about 29 million people, has become the first U.S. state to administer more than 1 million vaccine doses, Gov. Greg Abbott said.

Ofelia Contreras, 80, waits as nurse Norma Longoria administers her dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, Jan. 8, 2021, at the COVID-19 vaccine clinic inside Casa Del Sol in Harlingen, Texas.
Denise Cathey/The Brownsville Herald via AP

People who qualify under Phase 1A or Phase 1B of the state's guidelines wait for their turn to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, Jan. 3, 2021, at a COVID-19 vaccine clinic in Houston.
Yi-Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle via AP

Texas has 2,040,751 confirmed cases and at least 31,277 fatalities, according to real-time data collected by Johns Hopkins University.

Texas’ Harris County, home to Houston, ranks No. 5 in the country for the highest number of confirmed cases, behind Los Angeles County, California; Cook County, Illinois; Marciopa County, Arizona; and Miami-Dade County, Florida.

ABC News’ Gina Sunseri contributed to this report.

Jan 14, 2021, 2:13 PM EST

Brazil variant prompts UK to ban arrivals from some South and Central American countries

The United Kingdom will ban arrivals from several South and Central American countries beginning Friday, following evidence of a new variant of the novel coronavirus from Brazil, British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced Thursday.

The U.K. government will ban arrivals from Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela, according to Shapps.

Travel from Portugal to the U.K. will also be suspended given its strong travel links with Brazil, Shapps said.

ABC News’ Christine Theodorou contributed to this report.

Jan 14, 2021, 2:05 PM EST

About 1 in 3 has been infected in LA County

About one in every three people in Los Angeles County has been infected with COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, Los Angeles County Health Department officials said Wednesday.

Nurse Dawn Duran administers a dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to Jeremy Coran during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Pasadena, Calif., Jan. 12, 2021.
Mario Anzuoni/Reuters

Los Angeles County is close to becoming the county to reach 1 million cases. As of Thursday morning, 958,497 people in the county had been infected.

ABC News’ Bonnie Mclean contributed to this report.

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