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

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

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.


US sees decrease in 7-day averages in cases, hospitalizations, deaths

There has been a nationwide decrease in the seven-day averages for tests, cases, hospitalizations and deaths in the U.S, according to the COVID Tracking Project.

Many states are reporting a decrease in the number of new cases per million people, though California, Virginia and South Caroline reported more than 1,000 new cases per million Sunday.

Along with the states that do not regularly report on Sunday, Washington reported data system issues over the weekend. There will be some disruptions to reporting expected on Monday due to Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

States reported 1.8 million tests, 186,000 cases, 124,387 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19, and 2,044 deaths on Sunday, according to the COVID tracking project.

-ABC News Darren Reynolds


New patient admitted every 30 seconds in UK

The number of patients entering hospitals in the U.K. every day is showcasing the dire situation as the new variant of the COVID-19 virus that originated there continues to spread.

Sir Simon Stevens, Chief Executive of England’s NHS, announced Sunday that "every thirty seconds across England another patient is being admitted to hospital with coronavirus."

Hospitals and staff are under “extreme pressure,” Stevens said.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson also announced Sunday that the vaccine was being administered at a rate of "140 jabs a minute."

-ABC News’ Zoe Magee


California nearing 3 million positive cases

The state of California is poised to surpass 3 million positive COVID-19 cases within two days, according to data from the California Department of Public Health.

On Sunday, the state health department reported 42,229 new cases and 432 new deaths.

Los Angeles County, the hardest hit in the state, surpassed 1 million cases on Saturday. Dodger Stadium, the largest vaccination site in the country, reopened on Friday, but officials told ABC News they only have enough doses to last until Wednesday.

ABC News’ Matthew Fuhrman and Zohreen Shah contributed to this report.



New York governor calls on feds for more vaccines

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is urging the federal government to send more COVID-19 vaccines to the state as the variant that originated in the U.K. continues to spread.

Nearly 14,000 positive tests were reported Sunday, with 18 known cases of the variant and an infection rate of 5.6%, Cuomo announced.

While 7 million New York residents are currently eligible to receive the vaccine, the federal government sent less vaccines than what was expected, he added.

"We have the weapon that will win this war and we can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but how fast we get there depends upon two things-our own individual actions and the federal supply, which is where we are facing the greatest challenge," Cuomo said in a statement.


Biden stresses equity, transparency in vaccination plan

President-elect Joe Biden laid out a five-point vaccination plan Friday that he promised would turn the public's "frustration into motivation" and meet his goal of getting 100 million shots into Americans' arms within his first 100 days in office.

The plan includes working with states to open up more priority groups for vaccination, mobilizing a larger workforce to administer vaccines and working directly with independent and chain pharmacies to distribute them. Biden's administration also plans to set up 100 federally funded vaccination centers in school gyms, sports stadiums and mobile clinics to help reach communities that have been hit hard by the virus.

"Equity is central to our COVID response," Biden said.

Scientists in Biden's administration, like the surgeon general, will speak directly to the American people, he added, and pledged to be transparent about "both the good news and the bad" when it came COVID-19 progress. "You’re entitled to know," he said.