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US reports over 34K new cases as hotspots reemerge in Northeast

Some areas in the Northeast are starting to reemerge as hotspots.

Last Updated: September 16, 2020, 5:16 AM EDT

A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 930,000 people worldwide.

Over 29.3 million people across the globe have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new respiratory virus, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The criteria for diagnosis -- through clinical means or a lab test -- has varied from country-to-country. Still, the actual numbers are believed to be much higher due to testing shortages, many unreported cases and suspicions that some national governments are hiding or downplaying the scope of their outbreaks.

Since the first cases were detected in China in December, the virus has rapidly spread to every continent except Antarctica.

The United States is the worst-affected country, with more than 6.5 million diagnosed cases and at least 195,414 deaths.

California has the most cases of any U.S. state, with more than 766,000 people diagnosed, according to Johns Hopkins data. California is followed by Texas and Florida, with over 686,000 cases and over 668,000 cases, respectively.

Nearly 170 vaccine candidates for COVID-19 are being tracked by the World Health Organization, at least six of which are in crucial phase three trials.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news developed Tuesday.
Sep 15, 2020, 12:36 PM EDT

UK health workers forced to stay off work due to lack of testing

The organization that represents the publicly funded hospitals of England warned Tuesday that COVID-19 testing shortages across the country are jeopardizing efforts to restore medical services and prepare for a potential surge in cases over the winter.

The National Health Service (NHS) in England is facing an increase in staff absences due to employees and their family members being unable to access a COVID-19 test. Without a test for either them or their loved ones, NHS staff are having to self-isolate after possible exposure to the virus, taking them away from the front line of the pandemic where they are desperately needed, according to a press release from NHS Providers.

Workers wear "NHS Test and Trace" branded hi-his jackets as they work at a COVID-19 testing center in Bolton, northern England, on Sept. 15, 2020, as local lockdown restrictions are put in place due to a spike in cases in the city.
Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images

NHS Providers CEO Chris Hopson said that hospital leaders in the British cities of Bristol, London and Leeds all raised concerns over the weekend about the lack of testing. He said hospitals "are working in the dark -- they don’t know why these shortages are occurring, how long they are likely to last, how geographically widespread they are likely to be and what priority will be given to healthcare workers and their families in accessing scarce tests."

"They need to know all this information so that they can plan accordingly," he said in a statement Tuesday. "We need to prioritize tests for healthcare workers and their families and patients coming in for treatment, many of whom have already waited longer than normal."

U.K. Home Secretary Priti Patel told BBC that delays in testing for the public are "unacceptable."

Sep 15, 2020, 10:43 AM EDT

North Carolina county incorrectly tells residents they tested positive

A county in North Carolina sent erroneous text messages and emails to more than 7,000 residents saying they were positive for COVID-19.

More than 6,700 people in Mecklenburg County were told the news in a text message from the local health department last Friday, while more than 500 others received the notice via email. Mecklenburg County said its health department does not text or email test results to those affected.

In a statement Monday, Mecklenburg County manager Dena Diorio explained the erroneous messages were sent through HealthSpace Data System, a Canadian company, to individuals who were already in their system. The technical glitch occurred during "routine maintenance" and was fixed in less than an hour. No personal information was compromised, according to Diorio.

"Once corrected we were told that 6727 text messages and 541 emails were sent to individuals who were already in their system," Diorio said in an email to the Board of County Commissioners on Monday afternoon. "We then worked with the vendor to send a corrected text/email to all that received the erroneous one."

To date, more than 27,000 Mecklenburg County residents have tested positive for COVID-19 and at least 339 have died.

Sep 15, 2020, 9:45 AM EDT

WHO issues guidance on vaccine distribution strategy

The World Health Organization issued framework on Tuesday intended to help decision-makers on how to allocate and prioritize the first supplies of COVID-19 vaccines, which will be limited.

The framework can be a useful resource for countries as they decide on priority groups for COVID-19 to reduce the burden from deaths and disease, to lessen societal and economic disruptions and to protect essential services such as health care.

A test tube labeled "Vaccine" is seen in front of a COVID-19 and stock graph logo in this illustration taken on Sept. 9, 2020.
Dado Ruvic/Reuters

Priority groups will include -- but are not limited to -- populations with significantly elevated risk of severe disease or death; populations with significantly elevated risk of being infected; school-aged children to minimize disruption of education and socioemotional development; and then on to workers in non-essential but economically critical sectors.

ABC News' Sony Salman and Christine Theodorou contributed to this report.

Sep 15, 2020, 6:47 AM EDT

University of Wisconsin-Madison votes to cancel spring break

The University of Wisconsin-Madison has moved to cancel spring break next year as part of efforts to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The public research university’s faculty senate voted on Monday to drop the nine-day vacation from the school's 2021 spring calendar, according a report by Madison ABC affiliate WKOW.

Under the new plan, classes would start Jan. 25, a week later than currently scheduled. Although spring break would be eliminated, classes would not be held on March 27, the beginning of Passover, on April 2, Good Friday, nor on April 3, the day before Easter. Classes would end April 30, the same day as originally planned, according to WKOW.

The move comes just days after the school announced it would be shifting to remote learning while all in-person instruction is paused for two weeks and that two residence halls would be placed under a 14-day quarantine.

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