A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now infected more than 102.5 million people worldwide and killed over 2.2 million of them, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Here's how the news is developing today. All times Eastern.
Jan 30, 2021, 6:30 AM EST
US surpasses 90,000 deaths in January
January has been the deadliest month since the pandemic began, with 90,844 total deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Lila Blanks holds the casket of her husband, Gregory Blanks, 50, who died of COVID-19, ahead of his funeral in San Felipe, Texas, , Jan. 26, 2021.
Callaghan O'hare/Reuters
The U.S. coronavirus death toll stands at 436,810 -- with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention projecting that more than 77,000 deaths could be reported by Feb. 20.
Jan 30, 2021, 4:50 AM EST
Brazil variant detected in California
California is now the second U.S. state with known detection of the Brazil P.1 variant.
Minnesota health officials confirmed earlier this week the nation's first known COVID-19 case associated with the variant.
Inside Stanford's Clinical Virology Laboratory, Dr. Benjamin Pinsky and his team found two strains of the virus: the Brazil strain and the U.K. strain, KGO reported Saturday morning.
"It's in about 17% of the samples that we've sequenced," Pinsky told KGO.
Jan 30, 2021, 12:44 AM EST
CDC issues federal transportation mask mandate starting February
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a federal transportation mask mandate Friday night which will be effective starting Feb. 1.
The mandate states that people traveling within or out of the United States must wear face masks while on conveyances and at transportation hubs to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
This includes airplanes, ships, ferries, trains, subways, buses, taxis and ride-shares, as well as subway stations, airports and other transportation hubs.
Drivers, conductors, and other workers involved in the operation of conveyances must also wear masks at all times, the CDC says.
"Conveyance operators must also require all persons onboard to wear masks when boarding, disembarking, and for the duration of travel," the mandate states. "Operators of transportation hubs must require all persons to wear a mask when entering or on the premises of a transportation hub."
Jan 29, 2021, 7:15 PM EST
More cases in past 2 weeks than 1st 6 months of pandemic: WHO
There have been more COVID-19 cases reported globally in the past two weeks than during the first six months of the pandemic, according to the World Health Organization.
Almost exactly a year ago, there were fewer than 100 confirmed cases of the virus outside of China, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted during a media briefing Friday. This week, the number of reported cases globally surpassed 100 million.
"Now, vaccines are giving us another window of opportunity to bring the pandemic under control. We must not squander it," Tedros said.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus delivers remarks during a WHO executive board meeting on Jan. 21, 2021, in Geneva.
World Health Organization/AFP via Getty Images, FILE
At the same time, Tedros warned that vaccine hoarding will be a "catastrophic moral failing" that will ultimately "keep the pandemic burning" and hinder economic recovery.
His comments come after the European Union publicly fought with AstraZeneca this week over how many doses it can expect of the drugmaker's COVID-19 vaccine. After regulators approved the vaccine Friday, the EU enacted an export restriction on doses produced in the bloc. WHO officials called the move "concerning" and part of a "worrying trend."
"Vaccine nationalism might serve short-term political goals, but it's ultimately short-sighted and self-defeating. We will not end the pandemic anywhere until we end it everywhere," Tedros said. "My message to governments is to vaccinate your health workers and older people, and share excess doses with COVAX, so other countries can do the same."