Coronavirus news: 4 more states added to New York, New Jersey, Connecticut quarantine list
Thirty-five states and territories are currently on the list.
A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 894,000 people worldwide.
Over 27.4 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 criteria for diagnosis -- through clinical means or a lab test -- has varied from country-to-country. Still, 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 virus has rapidly spread to every continent except Antarctica.
The United States is the worst-affected country, with more than 6.3 million diagnosed cases and at least 189,538 deaths.
California has the most cases of any U.S. state, with more than 742,000 people diagnosed, according to Johns Hopkins data. California is followed by Texas and Florida, with over 659,000 cases and over 650,000 cases respectively.
Nearly 170 vaccine candidates for COVID-19 are being tracked by the World Health Organization, six of which are in crucial phase three trials.
Latest headlines:
Pennsylvania restaurants can soon have 50% occupancy indoors
Pennsylvania restaurants can have 50% occupancy indoors beginning on Sept. 21, Gov. Tom Wolf announced Tuesday.
A new Sept. 21 rule also says restaurants must end alcohol sales at 10 p.m.
University of New Hampshire suspends fraternity after new cases traced to party
The University of New Hampshire has suspended a fraternity after a new cluster of coronavirus cases were linked to a recent party there.
More than 100 people who weren’t wearing face masks -- both students and non students -- attended the party at the university’s Theta Chi fraternity chapter in Durham, New Hampshire, on Aug. 29. Since then, at least 11 positive COVID-19 cases have been traced to the large gathering, which violated the school’s coronavirus-related policies and was in defiance of public health guidelines, according to University of New Hampshire president James W. Dean Jr.
"Let me be clear: this is reckless behavior and the kind of behavior that undermines our planning and will lead to us switching to a fully remote mode," Dean said in a statement Sunday. "The August 29 party is reprehensible and will not be tolerated. As soon as we heard of this party at Theta Chi, we started an investigation with the Interfraternity Council. We will be pursuing student conduct charges against the organizers and all students who attended the event."
All members of the fraternity chapter are in a 14-day quarantine, according to Dean.
"Theta Chi is under interim suspension immediately, as will any fraternity/sorority or other student organization that behaves in a similar manner, while we conduct the investigation," he said. "Until the investigation is complete, there is a moratorium on any in-person gatherings of any size within these groups."
Theta Chi Fraternity International Headquarters said its staff members are investigating the allegations since being notified that the Zeta chapter has been placed on interim suspension by the University of New Hampshire.
"Upon the completion of the investigation, the Fraternity will respond appropriately," the office said in a statement obtained by ABC News Tuesday. "Student health and safety are essential to Theta Chi’s mission. The Fraternity expects chapters to follow all applicable laws and regulations."
India reports its highest daily death toll
India reported an additional 1,133 coronavirus-related fatalities in the past 24 hours, the country’s highest single-day total.
The national death toll from COVID-19 now stands at 72,775.
India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare also confirmed 75,809 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, bringing the national tally to almost 4.3 million -- the second-highest in the world, behind the United States.
The recent rise in cases can be partly attributed to increased testing. The number of daily tests being conducted across the vast country of 1.3 billion people has grown to over a million. So far, nearly 3.3 million people in India have recovered from COVID-19.
The Taj Mahal, India’s most popular tourist attraction, is set to reopen later this month, despite the country's soaring COVID-19 infections.
US reports under 30,000 new cases for 1st time since June
There were 24,257 new cases of COVID-19 identified in the United States on Monday, according to a real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University.
It’s the first time since June 21 that the United States has reported under 30,000 new cases in a day. Monday’s tally is also far below the country’s record set on July 16, when there were 77,255 new cases in a 24-hour-reporting period.
An additional 267 coronavirus-related fatalities were also recorded Monday, the country’s lowest daily death toll since July 4 and down from a peak of 2,666 new fatalities reported on April 17.
A total of 6,301,321 people in the United States have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, and at least 189,215 of them have died, according to Johns Hopkins. The cases include people from all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C. and other U.S. territories as well as repatriated citizens.
By May 20, all U.S. states had begun lifting stay-at-home orders and other restrictions put in place to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. The day-to-day increase in the country's cases then hovered around 20,000 for a couple of weeks before shooting back up and crossing 70,000 for the first time in mid-July.
Last week, an internal memo from the Federal Emergency Management Agency obtained by ABC News showed the number of new COVID-19 cases in the United States had ticked upward while new deaths had decreased in week-over-week comparisons.