Coronavirus updates: US will soon have 'half a million' deaths, incoming CDC chief says
The U.S. is forecast to have almost 500,000 COVID-19 deaths by mid-February.
A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now infected more than 94.2 million people worldwide and killed over 2 million of them, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
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CDC expands testing rules for people flying to US
Beginning Jan. 26, those flying to the U.S. from foreign countries must follow new rules that were announced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday.
Passengers must take a COVID-19 test “within the 3 days before their flight to the U.S. departs, and provide written documentation of their laboratory test result (paper or electronic copy) to the airline or provide documentation of having recovered from COVID-19,” the CDC said.
“Airlines must confirm the negative test result for all passengers or documentation of recovery before they board,” the CDC said. “If a passenger does not provide documentation of a negative test or recovery, or chooses not to take a test, the airline must deny boarding to the passenger.”
The CDC also asks travelers “to get tested again 3-5 days after arrival and stay home for 7 days post-travel.”
ABC News’ Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.
Dems will implement new mask penalties on House floor
Democrats are moving forward Tuesday night with plans to implement a mask requirement on the House floor.
As part of their first vote series, they will adopt language implementing a fine system for noncompliance with Speaker Nancy Pelosi's mask requirement, according to a senior House Democratic aide.
Members will be fined $500 for their first offense and $2,500 for their second offense. Fines will be deducted from members' pay.
Separately, a House administrative body will review whether to add a new fine system for non-compliance in the House office buildings on the south side of the U.S. Capitol complex.
Three House Democrats have tested positive for COVID-19 since the Capitol siege.
ABC News’ Ben Siegel contributed to this report.
3rd House Democrat tests positive after sheltering with unmasked Republicans
Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., said he tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, becoming the third Democrat to do so after sheltering at the Capitol with several Republicans who were unmasked for "several hours” during Wednesday’s siege.
After “narrowly escaping” the violence, Schneider said in a statement, “I was forced to spend several hours in a secure but confined location with dozens of other Members of Congress. Several Republican lawmakers in the room adamantly refused to wear a mask.”
“I am now in strict isolation, worried that I have risked my wife’s health and angry at the selfishness and arrogance of the anti-maskers who put their own contempt and disregard for decency ahead of the health and safety of their colleagues and our staff,” he continued.
Schneider said he hasn't had any symptoms and that he drove home from Washington, D.C., to Illinois.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal and Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, both Democrats, have also said they tested positive following the Capitol siege.
Schneider is joining the growing number of Democrats demanding that the House sanction members who don’t wear masks on the House floor.
At a virtual press conference Tuesday, Schneider said, "I don’t know from whom I got this virus or even necessarily if I got it in that room. But I know that my exposure in that room was greater than at any other time through this entire pandemic.”
ABC News’ Ben Siegel and Matthew Vann contributed to this report.
Maryland reports 2 cases of UK variant
Two people from Anne Arundel County, Maryland, are confirmed to have the coronavirus variant that originated in the United Kingdom, Gov. Larry Hogan said, reported WBAL-TV.
The couple traveled to multiple continents, the governor said. They are in isolation and state officials are conducting contact tracing, WBAL-TV reported.
Maryland is at least the 10th state to confirm the presence of the U.K. variant, following Connecticut, Minnesota, Georgia, Colorado, New York, Florida, California, Pennsylvania and Texas.
The U.K. variant appears to spread more easily but there’s no evidence that it is more deadly.
ABC News’ Dee Carden contributed to this report.
Biden picks former FDA chief to help lead Operation Warp Speed
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden has chosen Dr. David Kessler, former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to help lead the federal government's COVID-19 vaccine initiative.
Kessler, a pediatrician and lawyer who headed the FDA from 1999 to 1997 under the Bush and Clinton administrations, will replace Dr. Moncef Slaoui, who is the current chief science officer to Operation Warp Speed.
Biden also announced several other appointees who will join his incoming administration's COVID-19 response team.
"We are in a race against time, and we need a comprehensive strategy to quickly contain this virus," Biden said in a statement Thursday. "The individuals announced today will bolster the White House’s COVID-19 Response team and play important roles in carrying out our rescue plan and vaccination program. At a time when American families are facing numerous challenges I know these public servants will do all that is needed to build our nation back better."