US reports over 34K new cases as hotspots reemerge in Northeast
Some areas in the Northeast are starting to reemerge as hotspots.
A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 930,000 people worldwide.
Over 29.3 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 6.5 million diagnosed cases and at least 195,414 deaths.
California has the most cases of any U.S. state, with more than 766,000 people diagnosed, according to Johns Hopkins data. California is followed by Texas and Florida, with over 686,000 cases and over 668,000 cases, respectively.
Nearly 170 vaccine candidates for COVID-19 are being tracked by the World Health Organization, at least six of which are in crucial phase three trials.
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North Carolina county incorrectly tells residents they tested positive
A county in North Carolina sent erroneous text messages and emails to more than 7,000 residents saying they were positive for COVID-19.
More than 6,700 people in Mecklenburg County were told the news in a text message from the local health department last Friday, while more than 500 others received the notice via email. Mecklenburg County said its health department does not text or email test results to those affected.
In a statement Monday, Mecklenburg County manager Dena Diorio explained the erroneous messages were sent through HealthSpace Data System, a Canadian company, to individuals who were already in their system. The technical glitch occurred during "routine maintenance" and was fixed in less than an hour. No personal information was compromised, according to Diorio.
"Once corrected we were told that 6727 text messages and 541 emails were sent to individuals who were already in their system," Diorio said in an email to the Board of County Commissioners on Monday afternoon. "We then worked with the vendor to send a corrected text/email to all that received the erroneous one."
To date, more than 27,000 Mecklenburg County residents have tested positive for COVID-19 and at least 339 have died.
WHO issues guidance on vaccine distribution strategy
The World Health Organization issued framework on Tuesday intended to help decision-makers on how to allocate and prioritize the first supplies of COVID-19 vaccines, which will be limited.
The framework can be a useful resource for countries as they decide on priority groups for COVID-19 to reduce the burden from deaths and disease, to lessen societal and economic disruptions and to protect essential services such as health care.
Priority groups will include -- but are not limited to -- populations with significantly elevated risk of severe disease or death; populations with significantly elevated risk of being infected; school-aged children to minimize disruption of education and socioemotional development; and then on to workers in non-essential but economically critical sectors.
ABC News' Sony Salman and Christine Theodorou contributed to this report.
University of Wisconsin-Madison votes to cancel spring break
The University of Wisconsin-Madison has moved to cancel spring break next year as part of efforts to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The public research university’s faculty senate voted on Monday to drop the nine-day vacation from the school's 2021 spring calendar, according a report by Madison ABC affiliate WKOW.
Under the new plan, classes would start Jan. 25, a week later than currently scheduled. Although spring break would be eliminated, classes would not be held on March 27, the beginning of Passover, on April 2, Good Friday, nor on April 3, the day before Easter. Classes would end April 30, the same day as originally planned, according to WKOW.
The move comes just days after the school announced it would be shifting to remote learning while all in-person instruction is paused for two weeks and that two residence halls would be placed under a 14-day quarantine.
Global number of new cases decreases while deaths increase over past week
The global number of newly diagnosed COVID-19 cases has decreased over the past week while the number of deaths from the disease worldwide has increased, according to data from the World Health Organization.
On Monday, the WHO provided a snapshot for how COVID-19 impacted each region of the world for the week of Sept. 7-13, comparing data to the previous seven-day period. The number of newly diagnosed cases decreased by around 3% globally, while deaths increased by 8%.
The WHO's Southeast Asia region saw an 11% increase each in new cases and fatalities. The region accounts for 33% of the world's coronavirus-related deaths in the last week. India, Indonesia and Bangladesh reported the highest number of newly diagnosed cases. The Maldives, however, has the greatest caseload relative to its population size.
The Americas region saw a 19% decrease in new cases and a 10% increase in fatalities, with Guadeloupe reporting its highest numbers.
The Africa region saw a 14% decrease in new cases and a 15% decrease in fatalities, making it the only region to report a decline in coronavirus-related deaths. South Africa has the most cases of any country on the African continent.
The Eastern Mediterranean region saw a 14% increase in new cases and a 3% increase in fatalities. The uptick was largely attributed to seasonal religious and cultural mass gatherings, wedding celebrations and other social events. The number of newly diagnosed cases in Libya has more than doubled over the past two weeks, and the real figures are likely to be even higher due to testing shortages.
The European region saw an 8% increase in new cases and just under a 1% increase in fatalities. The region accounts for 16% of the world's cases and 25% of deaths. France reported the highest number of newly diagnosed cases in the last week.
The Western Pacific region saw a 4% increase in new cases and a 6% increase in fatalities. The Philippines, Japan and South Korea had the greatest number of newly diagnosed cases. Singapore, however, has the largest number of cases relative to its population size. Overall, the region has the lowest cumulative cases and deaths relative to the populations.
ABC News' Christine Theodorou contributed to this report.