Coronavirus updates: Herd immunity by fall 'ambitious,' says surgeon general nominee

In 44 states, the seven-day average of new cases dropped over 10%.

Last Updated: January 19, 2021, 7:24 AM EST

A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now infected more than 98.7 million people worldwide and killed over 2.1 million of them, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

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Here's how the news developed this week. All times Eastern.
Jan 19, 2021, 7:24 AM EST

Israel sees record rise in cases despite mass vaccination

Israel confirmed 10,222 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, its highest daily tally since the pandemic began, suggesting the country's mass vaccination campaign hasn't kicked in yet.

The record figure translates to a nationwide positivity rate in COVID-19 tests of 10.2% However, one promising sign is that the number of critically ill patients hospitalized with COVID-19 across Israel has remained steady over the past few days.

Israel's cumulative totals now stand at 562,167 confirmed cases and 4,049 deaths from the disease, according to the latest data from the Israeli Ministry of Health.

A health care worker prepares a dose of a COVID-19 vaccine for people queuing at the Kupat Holim Clalit clinic in Jerusalem, Israel, on Jan. 14, 2021.
Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images

Official figures show 25% of Israel's general population -- nearly 2.2 million people -- have received the first of two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 5% -- more than 420,000 -- have received their second dose.

The Israeli government is expected to meet Tuesday afternoon to determine whether to extend the current lockdown, which has been in place since Jan. 8 and is slated to end Jan. 21.

ABC News' Bruno Nota contributed to this report.

Jan 19, 2021, 7:17 AM EST

1 in 8 people in England have had COVID-19, data suggests

An estimated one in eight people in England have already been infected with the novel coronavirus, according to antibody data from the U.K. Office for National Statistic's COVID-19 Infection Survey.

The survey estimates that 12.1% of the population in England would have tested positive for antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 on a blood test in December 2020, suggesting they had the infection in the past.

"The estimate is weighted to be representative of the overall population and suggests that an average of 5.4 million people aged 16 years and over in England would have tested positive for antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 during this time," the report said. "This equates to 1 in 8 people aged 16 years and over."

That estimate was one in 10 people in Wales, one in 13 people in Northern Ireland and one in 11 people in Scotland, according to the survey.

A sign points the way for a COVID-19 testing center at Terminal 2 in Heathrow Airport in west London, United Kingdom, on Jan. 18, 2021.
Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images

Meanwhile, a regional analysis of antibody data for England found that the highest positivity was seen in Yorkshire and The Humber, followed by London and the North West, according to the survey.

The survey, which was launched in the United Kingdom in mid-April of last year, measured several factors: how many people test positive for COVID-19 at a given point in time, regardless of whether they report experiencing symptoms; the average number of new infections per week over the course of the study; and the number of people who test positive for antibodies, to indicate how many people are ever likely to have had the infection.

The U.K. -- an island nation of 66 million people made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland -- has confirmed more than 3.4 million cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, including more than 89,000 deaths. There were 37,535 new cases and 599 additional fatalities from the disease confirmed in the last 24 hours, according to the latest data published on the U.K. government's website.

Jan 19, 2021, 5:48 AM EST

18 family members test positive after holiday party in Pennsylvania

One family's holiday gathering in Pennsylvania has turned out to be a superspreading event, according to a report by Philadelphia ABC station WPVI.

Darlene Reynolds, 55, said she woke up with a scratchy throat on Dec. 26, the day before relatives from as far as Canada were planning to come over for a holiday party at her home in the Milmont Park section of Ridley Township.

"I had no fever because I kept checking it," Reynolds told WPVI. "I said, 'I'll keep a distance since I have a tiny little cough.'"

One man is being treated in this hospital after 18 of his family members were infected with COVID-19 during a holiday gathering back on Dec., 2020 in Delaware County, Pa.
ABC News

Soon after the party, people started getting sick.

"We were sick, but we didn't know we had COVID. We could've had the flu, but it was scary," Reynolds told WPVI. "We got tested and we tested positive."

In total, 18 family members ranging in age from 1 to 62 contracted COVID-19. Reynolds said both her husband and their son were hospitalized.

Jan 19, 2021, 5:25 AM EST

Moderna vaccine lot flagged by California officials used at mass vaccination event

Just hours after California's top epidemiologist recommended pausing the use of COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna's lot 041L20A due to "possible allergic reactions" that are under investigation, Mendocino County officials discovered that the batch in question was used at a mass vaccination event in San Diego.

"The county has reviewed the lot numbers administered through our mass vaccination clinics as well as the inventory stored in our freezer. Upon further review, we are confirming that 100 doses of Mendocino County Public Health's Moderna vaccine associated with the batch the state is concerned with were used at a vaccination event at the Redwood Empire Fairgrounds on January 7th," Mendocino County vaccine coordinator Adrienne Thompson said in a statement Monday night.

A health care worker receives a dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego, California, on Dec. 22, 2020.
Bing Guan/Reuters

According to Thompson, all 100 doses were administered at the event and comprised a separate order from the state. No adverse reactions occurred.

"County staff will be contacting all 100 individuals that received a vaccine with this lot number to alert them of the recall," Thompson said. "No other side effects have been noted from use of this vaccine."

Mendocino County's public health officer, Dr. Andrew Coren, said events such as this are not unexpected because these are new vaccines, and it should not deter the public from getting vaccinated.

"This isolated event has not increased the percentage of vaccine reactions, which continue to be about one person in 100,000," Coren said in a statement Monday night. "Getting vaccinated continues to be the best way for all of us to help move beyond this virus and return to a normal way of life."

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