Coronavirus updates: Los Angeles County to prohibit gatherings, close playgrounds
Cases are on the rise in Southern California.
A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now infected more than 61 million people and killed over 1.4 million worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Latest headlines:
Nearly 90,000 hospitalized across country
The U.S. reached a new record high for hospitalizations for the 16th consecutive day, according to The COVID Tracking Project.
There are 89,954 Americans currently in the hospital with symptoms of the virus, according to the project.
The country recorded 182,537 new cases and 2,284 new deaths Wednesday, according to the data.
The death daily total is the highest since May 7, and the seventh-highest daily death total to date, The COVID Tracking Project tweeted.
US deaths up by 35% from last week: HHS
The country saw a large jump in coronavirus-related fatalities over the last week, according to an internal memo from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services obtained by ABC News.
The 11,171 deaths recorded between Nov. 18 and Nov. 24 marked a 35.5% increase compared to the previous week, according to the memo.
Several states saw sharp jumps in their death tolls during the seven-day period, according to HHS. Alabama's seven-day death total increased by 27% going from 166 to 211, while Mississippi saw a 32% increase in deaths for the week ending Nov 22.
During that same seven-day period, the U.S. saw 1,198,099 new cases, which was a 9.4% jump from the previous week, the memo said.
Wyoming governor tests positive
Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon tested positive for the coronavirus Wednesday, a representative for his office told ABC News.
"He only has minor symptoms at this time and plans to continue working on behalf of Wyoming remotely," the representative said in a statement.
The news was first reported by the Casper Star Tribune earlier in the evening.
Gordon is at least the fifth governor to contract the coronavirus since the pandemic began. His diagnosis comes as Wyoming has seen a rise in cases over the last month.
The seven-day average of new cases has risen from around 284 at the beginning of November to 687 this week, according to the state's health department.
Ravens-Steelers game on Thanksgiving moved to Sunday
The NFL has postponed the game between the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers, which was scheduled to be played on Thursday night.
The game has been rescheduled to Sunday afternoon.
Multiple players on the Ravens were placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list on Monday following positive tests, the team announced at the time.