Jamesha Waddell, a senior at Livingstone College, died Thursday.
A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 1.3 million people worldwide.
Over 58.7 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 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. The criteria for diagnosis -- through clinical means or a lab test -- has also varied from country to country.
The United States is the worst-affected nation, with more than 12.2 million diagnosed cases and at least 256,783 deaths.
Nearly 200 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.
A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that Kansas counties that opted out of a statewide July 3 mask mandate saw COVID-19 cases jump 100% from July 3 to Aug. 23.
While 81 counties opted out of the mandate, the 24 that adhered to it saw a 6% decrease in cases, according to the CDC.
ABC News' Sony Salzman contributed to this report.
In hard-hit El Paso, Texas, rising cases are due to community spread, primarily through retail shopping, Mayor Dee Margo said.
"We did a deep dive from Oct. 10 to Oct. 16 in our contact tracing," he told "GMA 3: What You Need To Know." We found out that 55.11% of our positives were coming from retail shopping. Primarily in what we would term the big major retailers, the big-box stores. So it's a community spread."
El Paso is in the middle of its fifth week of its latest COVID-19 spike, the mayor said. With so many fatalities, the county Thursday put out a call for morgue staffing.
With 1,000 cases reported on Friday, the Texas city has had at least 79,000 -- and 845 fatalities.
ABC News' Ariane Nalty contributed to this report.
There have been more COVID-19 cases worldwide in the last four weeks than in the first six months of the pandemic, said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization.
He again urged people, despite promising news on vaccines, to continue using all tools to interrupt chains of transmission and save lives now.
ABC News' Kirit Radia contributed to this report.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fl., announced Friday that he has tested positive for COVID-19.
After returning to Florida last week, Scott came into contact with someone who subsequently tested positive. The Republican senator has been quarantining at his home in Naples since then. He took multiple rapid tests earlier this week, all of which were negative, but a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test he took Tuesday came back positive Friday morning, according to a press release from his office.
"After several negative tests, I learned I was positive this morning," Scott said in a statement Friday. "I am feeling good and experiencing very mild symptoms. I will be working from home in Naples until it is safe for me to return to Washington, D.C."
Scott is the eighth member of Congress to test positive for COVID-19 just this week.
"I want to remind everyone to be careful and do the right things to protect yourselves and others. Wear a mask. Social distance. Quarantine if you come in contact with someone positive like I did," he said. "As we approach Thanksgiving, we know this holiday will be different this year. But, listen to public health officials and follow their guidance. We will beat this together, but we all have to be responsible."
ABC News' Mariam Khan contributed to this report.
