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.
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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.
Seychelles becomes 1st African nation to roll out COVID-19 vaccine
Seychelles, an island nation of just under 100,000 people, has begun immunizing its population against COVID-19 with a vaccine developed by China’s state-owned pharmaceutical company, Sinopharm.
Seychelles President Wavel Ramkalawan became the first African head of state to receive the Sinopharm vaccine on Sunday, as the country officially launched a national COVID-19 immunization campaign -- the first in Africa to do so. The Seychelles Ministry of Health began administering the shot to priority groups on Monday, starting with health care professionals and other front-line workers, according to a press release from the president’s office.
Last month, China authorized Sinopharm's vaccine for general use after the company announced that preliminary data from late-stage trials had shown it to be 79.3% effective. The shot is administered in two doses.
The United Arab Emirates donated 50,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine to Seychelles. India offered 100,000 doses of another COVID-19 vaccine developed by England’s University of Oxford and British-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, which are due to arrive in Seychelles at the end of the month, according to the president's office.
“With such a robust vaccination campaign, Seychelles aims to be the first country in the world to vaccinate at least 70% of its over 18 population,” Ramkalawan said in a statement Sunday. “From there, we will be able to declare Seychelles as being COVID safe. This will allow us to reopen our economy.”
Seychelles, an Indian Ocean archipelago located off the coast of East Africa, has reported 508 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, including at least one death, according to the latest data from the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
