New York health provider may have fraudulently obtained COVID-19 vaccine
The vaccine was then given to members of the public not yet eligible.
A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now infected more than 80.2 million people worldwide and killed over 1.7 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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South Carolina’s governor tests positive
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster has tested positive for COVID-19 and is experiencing “mild symptoms with a cough and slight fatigue,” his office said.
His wife, Peggy McMaster, tested positive last week and does not have symptoms.
"There is no way to pinpoint precisely when or how Governor McMaster or the First Lady contracted the virus,” the governor’s office said, citing state physicians.
“The governor quarantined himself when he knew he was in close contact with the virus and sent Governor’s Residence staff home to quarantine and get tested to ensure their health and safety,” his office said. “Because the governor followed the guidelines and recommendations as a ‘close contact,’ SCDHEC [the state’s health department] has determined there are no ‘close contacts’ to the governor."
The governor is isolating at home and will receive monoclonal antibody treatment on Tuesday, his office said.
CDC says UK variant not detected in sequencing efforts in US
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it hasn’t detected the coronavirus variant found in the United Kingdom, with the caveat that an extremely limited number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. have been sequenced.
While there’s evidence the variant could potentially be more transmissible, the fact that it is more predominant in a particular country or area doesn't mean it's more infectious and there's no evidence it causes more severe illness, according to the CDC.
Beginning in January, each state will send at least 10 COVID-19 samples biweekly to the CDC for sequencing and further characterization.
ABC News' Stephanie Ebbs contributed to this report.
December on track to become deadliest month of pandemic
With over 51,000 coronavirus-related deaths recorded in the first three weeks of the month, December is on track to surpass April to become the deadliest month of the pandemic in the U.S., according to ABC News’ analysis of data compiled by the COVID Tracking Project.
Hospitalizations are surging to unprecedented levels, with 115,351 patients currently hospitalized nationwide -- a 38.5% increase in the last month.
December is also set to become the worst month on record for COVID-19 cases in the U.S. The U.S. surpassed 18 million cases on Monday, only four days after reaching 17 million cases, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University.
ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos contributed to this report.
European Commission recommends end to UK travel ban
The European Commission is recommending an end to the United Kingdom’s travel ban in the wake of coronavirus cases in England linked to a new variant of the virus.
The Commission said, “while it is important to take swift temporary precautionary action to limit the further spread of the new strain of the virus and all non-essential travel to and from the UK should be discouraged, essential travel and transit of passengers should be facilitated. Flight and train bans should be discontinued given the need to ensure essential travel and avoid supply chain disruptions.”
France and several other countries closed their borders to Britain on Monday over fears of the new variant.
While the France-England border is closed for U.K. citizens, French citizens can come home from Britain if they have proof of a negative COVID-19 test, France's BFM television reported on Tuesday.
ABC News’ Kirit Radia and Sohel Uddin contributed to this report.
US deaths, cases continue to rise: HHS
The number of new coronavirus cases and deaths jumped over the last seven days, according to an internal U.S. Department of Health and Human Services memo obtained by ABC News.
In the last week, the country recorded 1,677,232 new cases, which was a 13.6% increase from the previous seven-day period, according to the memo.
There were 18,578 deaths recorded during the last seven days, marking a 9.2% jump from the previous week, according to HHS.
Nearly 30% of hospitals across the country have more than 80% of their ICU beds filled, the memo said.
Several states recorded large jumps in hospitalizations last week, according to HHS.
On Dec 18, Louisiana state officials reported its 30-day increase in hospitalization was 82% and there were only 19.1% of ICU beds were available, according to the memo.
Nevada's COVID-19 deaths increased by 21% in the week ending Dec. 15, compared to the prior week, HHS said.
-ABC News' Josh Margolin contributed to this report