Coronavirus latest: 5 states removed from New York travel advisory list
The advisory mandates a 14-day self-quarantine for travelers from those states.
A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 814,000 people worldwide.
Over 23.7 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.
Since the first cases were detected in China in December, the United States has become the worst-affected country, with more than 5.7 million diagnosed cases and at least 177,873 deaths.
Nearly 170 vaccine candidates are being tracked by the World Health Organization. Six of these are in crucial phase three trials, where thousands are being administered vaccine doses.
Latest headlines:
- Florida county has 158 quarantined since schools opened last week
- New York removes 5 states from travel advisory list, adds Guam
- University of Southern California reports ‘alarming increase’ in cases
- People under 60 may be driving pandemic spread in Georgia, study shows
- New cases and deaths in US have decreased substantially, FEMA memo says
South Korea closes schools across Seoul amid spike in cases
South Korea has ordered the closure of schools in the capital amid a rise in coronavirus infections there.
South Korean Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae said Tuesday that nearly 200 students and teachers have been infected in the Seoul metropolitan region over the past two weeks. Most students at kindergartens, elementary, middle and high schools will return to online learning at least until Sept. 11. Those in their final year of high school will continue to take in-person classes so their studies are not disrupted ahead of the national college exams, Yoo said.
South Korea's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded 280 new cases of COVID-19 and one death on Monday, bringing the country's total to 17,945 cases and 310 deaths.
South Korea once had the largest COVID-19 outbreak outside China, where the virus first emerged, but health authorities were able to bring it under control with an extensive "trace, test and treat" strategy. Now, infections are on the rise in Seoul, home to over 25 million people, as well as in other parts of the country.
Germany issues travel warning for Paris area
Germany has issued a travel warning for parts of France, including Paris and Marseille, due to high levels of coronavirus infection there.
The German government announced Monday that travelers returning from Ile-de-France and Provence-Alpes-Cote-d’Azur regions will be required to be tested for COVID-19 upon arrival and then must self-quarantine while awaiting the test results.
France’s national public health agency recorded 1,955 new cases of COVID-19 and 15 coronavirus-related fatalities on Monday, bringing the total to 244,854 confirmed cases and 30,528 deaths. The country is among the hardest-hit in Europe.
ABC News’ Ibtissem Guenfoud contributed to this report.
People under 60 may be driving pandemic spread in Georgia, study shows
People younger than 60 are potentially driving the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in Georgia, according to a new study.
The study by the National Academy of Science collected data from five counties in Georgia, including four metro Atlanta areas, between March and May. An analysis of the data showed that people under the age of 60 were almost three times as likely to spread COVID-19 as people older than 60.
Researchers also found that people younger than 60 tended to be responsible for super-spreading events. Overall, 2% of cases were directly responsible for 20% of all infections, according to the study, which was published last Thursday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the official journal of the National Academy of Sciences.
ABC News' Sony Salzman contributed to this report.
Gaza Strip under lockdown after 1st cases of community transmission
Palestinian authorities have imposed a 48-hour lockdown on the besieged Gaza Strip after officials said a family of four tested positive for COVID-19 at a refugee camp there.
The Palestinian health ministry said another case was identified Monday at a quarantine center in Gaza, bringing the total count to five.
The cause of the cluster is unclear and authorities are working to trace it. It’s the first known instance of the novel coronavirus spreading through Gaza’s local community.
The full lockdown went into effect Monday night across the entire 140-square-mile-long coastal enclave, which shares borders with Egypt and Israel.
The Gaza Strip, a densely populated area that forms part of the so-called Occupied Palestinian Territories, is inhabited by some 2 million Palestinians, most of whom are registered refugees living in overcrowded camps. Both Egypt and Israel have imposed restrictions on movement in and out of Gaza, citing concerns over the militant group Hamas, which rules the territory and has been designated a terrorist organization by Israel and the United States.
However, a small number of Palestinians still travel to Jerusalem for routine cancer treatments, and Egypt partially lifted its blockade recently to allow Palestinians back in.
ABC News’ Nasser Atta and Guy Davies contributed to this report.