Coronavirus updates: Birx warns of 'very different' spread of COVID-19

"What we did in the spring is not going to work in the fall," Birx said.

ByMorgan Winsor and Emily Shapiro
Video byJessie DiMartino
Last Updated: October 12, 2020, 5:39 AM EDT

A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 1 million people worldwide.

Over 36.7 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 7.6 million diagnosed cases and at least 213,570 deaths.

California has the most cases of any U.S. state, with more than 847,000 people diagnosed, according to Johns Hopkins data. California is followed by Texas and Florida, with over 811,000 cases and over 728,000 cases, respectively.

More than 190 vaccine candidates for COVID-19 are being tracked by the World Health Organization, at least 10 of which are in crucial phase three studies. Of those 10 potential vaccines in late-stage trials, there are currently five that will be available in the United States if approved.

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Oct 09, 2020, 4:41 AM EDT

Birx warns of 'troubling signs' in Northeast amid 'very different' spread of COVID-19

Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, said states in the Northeast are showing "troubling signs" that they could reemerge as COVID-19 hotspots.

"It’s early here," Birx said at a press conference Thursday, after participating in a roundtable discussion at the University of Connecticut's campus in Hartford. "We can continue in the Northeast to contain the virus."

As the weather turns colder, Birx said the novel coronavirus is transmitting more rapidly within families and social groups than in schools or workplaces where people are taking precautions. She said it's a lesson that was learned in the South during the summer when people went indoors for air-conditioning to escape the heat and humidity.

Dr. Deborah Birx appears on "Good Morning America," April 8, 2020.
ABC News

"What we’re seeing in the community is much more spread occurring in households and in social occasions, small gatherings where people have come inside, taken off their mask to eat or drink or socialize with one another," she said.

Northeastern states, once a hotbed for the virus, are beginning to see upticks in COVID-19, case numbers, positivity rates and hospitalizations.

"This is really a message to everyone in Connecticut: the kind of spread that we’re seeing now is very different from the spread we experienced in March and April,” Birx warned. "What we did in the spring is not going to work in the fall."

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