Coronavirus updates: 84% of California population to go on lockdown Sunday night
More than 33 million people in the state will be affected by the lockdown.
A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now infected more than 66.4 million people and killed over 1.5 million worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Latest headlines:
California reports new case record
California reported a new case record Friday with 22,018 more COVID-19 cases.
The state reported an additional 145 deaths.
Across California, 9,948 COVID-19 patients are in hospitals -- an increase of 246 from Thursday.
The 14-day average positivity rate stands at 7.3%.
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday that a stay-at-home order will go into effect in any region where the ICU capacity falls below 15%. The two closest regions so far are Northern California, which has 18.6% capacity remaining, and the San Joaquin Valley, which has 19.7% remaining.
-ABC News' Matthew Fuhrman
Pence says US is maybe 'a week and a half away' from vaccine approval
At a roundtable discussion at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC Director Robert Redfield said he's "optimistic that the FDA will get authorized vaccines within the next several weeks and distribution work can begin."
Vice President Mike Pence, who joined him at the meeting, added, “We are maybe, Bob, just a week and a half away from what will be the likely approval of the first coronavirus vaccine."
Pence added, "Within 48 hours from the FDA approval, we could be vaccinating people literally in all 50 states and territories all across the country."
Pence said that a vaccine won't likely be available for every American until "spring or early summer."
-ABC News' Elizabeth Thomas
Virus 'has entered a phase of high-level transmission' in US: CDC
A new CDC report is warning that the virus "has entered a phase of high-level transmission" in the U.S. and that it's more important than ever to follow public health guidelines.
On Oct. 30, the number of new cases reported in the U.S. in a single day exceeded 100,000 for the first time, and by Dec. 2, the daily case number had nearly doubled, with over 196,000 new daily cases, the report said.
"With colder weather, more time spent indoors, the ongoing U.S. holiday season, and silent spread of disease, with approximately 50% of transmission from asymptomatic persons, the United States has entered a phase of high-level transmission where a multipronged approach to implementing all evidence-based public health strategies at both the individual and community levels is essential," the report said.
The report summarizes these strategies to combat COVID-19: universal face mask use, physical distancing, avoiding nonessential indoor space, increasing testing, prompt quarantine of exposed persons, safeguarding those at increased risk for severe illness or death, protecting essential workers, postponing travel, enhancing ventilation, hand hygiene and achieving widespread COVID-19 vaccination coverage.
-ABC News' Sony Salzman
COVID-19 appears to be 3rd leading cause of death in US
COVID-19 will probably be ranked at least third for leading causes of death in the U.S. this year, Bob Anderson, Chief, Mortality Statistics Branch at National Center for Health Statistics, told ABC News.
"We won’t make that determination officially until all the data are in," Anderson added.
The No. 1 cause of death is heart disease, with 655,381 deaths, followed by cancer with 599,274 deaths, according to CDC data.
COVID-19 is in the No. 3 spot with 276,513 fatalities, followed by accidents which accounted for 167,127 deaths, according to the CDC.
-ABC News' Eric Strauss