Coronavirus updates: Birx warns of 'troubling signs' in Northeast amid 'very different' spread of COVID-19
"What we did in the spring is not going to work in the fall," Birx said.
A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 1 million people worldwide.
Over 36.7 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 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 7.6 million diagnosed cases and at least 213,570 deaths.
California has the most cases of any U.S. state, with more than 847,000 people diagnosed, according to Johns Hopkins data. California is followed by Texas and Florida, with over 811,000 cases and over 728,000 cases, respectively.
More than 190 vaccine candidates for COVID-19 are being tracked by the World Health Organization, at least 10 of which are in crucial phase three studies. Of those 10 potential vaccines in late-stage trials, there are currently five that will be available in the United States if approved.
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CDC has just 2 staffers conducting contact tracing at White House
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday it's not planning to deploy a large team of staff members to the White House to conduct contact tracing.
CDC spokesman Benjamin Haynes confirmed to ABC News that there are now two contact tracers assigned to the White House. The first CDC staff member assigned to the operation has been at the White House since March, while the second person joined the effort recently.
"There are no plans to send anyone else at this point," Haynes told ABC News on Friday.
ABC News reported on Tuesday that the agency had assembled a large team of experts to trace the explosion of COVID-19 cases at the White House but the unit has largely been put on standby as President Donald Trump opted to run his own operation through the White House medical unit.
COVID-19 cases among White House staff and their close contacts continue to climb after Trump revealed last week that he and his wife tested positive for the disease.
CDC guidelines recommend tracing cases as soon as possible because a single infected person can begin to spread COVID-19 two days before the individual has any symptoms or tests positive.
ABC News' Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.
Slovakia sees record rise in cases for 3rd straight day
Slovakia confirmed 1,184 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, hitting a record high for the third straight day.
The latest daily tally was up from the country's previous record of 1,037 set a day earlier. The cumulative total now stands at 16,910 confirmed cases with 57 deaths, according to data from Slovakia's Ministry of Health.
Slovakia is among a number of European countries grappling with an uptick in COVID-19 cases, as a second wave of infections hits the region.
The Slovak government announced Friday that it will deploy hundreds of service members to help health workers with contact tracing, to conduct tests and distribute personal protective equipment. The prime minister warned that tighter restrictions will be imposed next week if the infection rate doesn't slow down over the weekend.
Broadway to remain closed through May 30, 2021
Broadway will stay dark through May 30, 2021, according to the national trade association for the Broadway theatre industry in New York City.
Broadway shows shut down in March when New York City emerged as the U.S. epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic.
"With nearly 97,000 workers who rely on Broadway for their livelihood and an annual economic impact of $14.8 billion to the city, our membership is committed to re-opening as soon as conditions permit us to do so," Broadway League president Charlotte St. Martin said in a statement Friday. "We are working tirelessly with multiple partners on sustaining the industry once we raise our curtains."
Dates for returning and new shows will be announced by the individual productions.
80% of ICU beds are full at 25% of US hospitals, HHS memo says
According to an internal memo from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that was obtained by ABC News, 25% of the nation's hospitals are reporting that beds in intensive care units are more than 80% full.
The memo, which is circulated to the highest levels of the federal government and is used to determine daily priorities for the agencies working on COVID-19 response, said 29 U.S. states and territories are in an upward trajectory of infections, while 10 jurisdictions are at a plateau and 17 others are in a downward trend.
There were 314,894 new cases confirmed during the period of Oct. 1-Oct. 7, a 6% increase from the previous week. There were also 4,730 coronavirus-related fatalities recorded during the period of Oct. 1-Oct. 7, a 5.2% decrease compared with the week prior, according to the memo.
Meanwhile, the national positivity rate for COVID-19 tests increased from 4.5% to 5.7% in week-to-week comparisons, the memo said.
In Arkansas, the seven-day positivity rate for COVID-19 tests jumped from 7.1% to 22.8% -- a 300% increase -- between the weeks ending Sept. 24 and Oct. 1, according to the memo.
Delaware's seven-day COVID-19 case rate rose 41.6% to 1,009.5 cases per 1 million population on Oct. 4 from the previous week -- much higher than the regional rate of 633.5 cases per 1 million. The state's number of new COVID-19 cases, deaths and hospitalizations are all trending upward, the memo said.
In Hawaii, pet shelters are at capacity due to the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic. On Oct. 30, the state will initiate the largest pet airlift across the Pacific Ocean in history, transporting hundreds of animals to Seattle from Kauai, Honolulu, Maui and Hawaii Island, according to the memo.
Idaho's daily average of COVID-19 hospitalizations increased from 7.3 to 8.7 per 100,000 population during the week ending Oct. 4, the memo said.
Indiana has also seen an upward trend in its seven-day COVID-19 hospitalization rate. Meanwhile, the state's number of new COVID-19 cases continues to rise, with the average of new daily cases rising 50% over the peak in April and May, according to the memo.
Multiple counties in Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia, Cambria, Bradford and Columbia -- reported their number of new COVID-19 cases doubling in the week ending Oct. 4
ABC News' Josh Margolin contributed to this report.