Coronavirus updates: US reports nearly 300,000 new cases in all-time high
A staggering 299,087 new cases were confirmed over the past 24 hours.
A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now infected more than 84.6 million people worldwide and killed over 1.8 million of them, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Latest headlines:
New variant ‘very likely exists in many states,’ Colorado governor says
After a Colorado man was determined Tuesday to have the COVID-19 variant detected in the United Kingdom, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said the new variant “very likely exists in many states.”
“We don’t yet have a good idea how prevalent it is” in Colorado or the U.S., Polis said at a news conference Wednesday.
The man, in his 20s, is believed to be the first known case of the variant in the U.S. He has mild symptoms and is recovering, Polis said. The man has had no travel history and is in isolation, officials said.
There is another possible case of the variant that has not been confirmed, State Epidemiologist Dr. Rachel Herlihy said Wednesday.
Both individuals are National Guard personnel who were sent to a nursing home where there was an outbreak, she said. National Guard personnel arrived at the facility on Dec. 23. There's no evidence that the variant is circulating in that facility but testing is ongoing, Herlihy said.
Randy Fitzgerald, regional vice president of the nursing home, Good Samaritan Society, said in a statement, "The Colorado Department of Health and Environment have been on-site to test employees and residents for the variant. We expect to have the results in the next few days. We will continue to work closely with the state while following the CDC’s infection control measures."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it expects "there will be additional cases that are likely to be detected in the coming days."
"Viruses constantly change through mutation, and new variants of a virus are expected to occur over time," the CDC said.
The CDC added that the U.K. variant doesn't appear to cause more severe disease or mortality, but warned it does appear to have a higher transmission rate.
“I’m proud that we detected it here in Colorado as quickly as we did,” Polis said.
Floridians wait in line overnight for vaccine
Some Floridians took chairs and blankets to wait in line in Fort Myers overnight for a chance to get the vaccine.
Vaccinations are being offered to high-risk front-line health care workers and people 65 and over, the Fort Myers News-Press reported.
Sunday predicted to be busiest travel day of pandemic
On Tuesday, 1,019,347 million people traveled through U.S. airports, according to the TSA.
Experts predict that this Sunday will be the busiest travel day of the pandemic.
ABC News’ Sam Sweeney contributed to this report.
Tuesday was deadliest day in US during pandemic
The United States reported 3,725 deaths on Tuesday, breaking the previous single-day total of 3,656 set on Dec. 16, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
The current numbers may not give the complete picture as the holidays have significantly impacted data, with many states having not reported numbers or have given incomplete updates.
December has already been determined to be the worst month on record for cases, hospitalizations and deaths, surpassing the high numbers seen in April.
-ABC News' Ahmad Hemingway contributed to this report.
England's health agency says it does not recommend mixing COVID-19 vaccines
Public Health England does not recommend mixing COVID-19 vaccines from different suppliers, according to the agency's head of immunizations, Dr. Mary Ramsay.
"We do not recommend mixing the COVID-19 vaccines -- if your first dose is the Pfizer vaccine you should not be given the AstraZeneca vaccine for your second dose and vice versa," Ramsay said in a statement Saturday. "There may be extremely rare occasions where the same vaccine is not available, or where it is not known what vaccine the patient received. Every effort should be made to give them the same vaccine, but where this is not possible it is better to give a second dose of another vaccine than not at all."
The clarification comes amid questions over the British government's updated guidance on COVID-19 vaccines, which now says that if individuals who received the first shot go to an immunization site where that same vaccine is not available for a second shot, or if the first vaccine received is unknown, "it is reasonable to offer one dose of the locally available product to complete the schedule."
"This option is preferred if the individual is likely to be at immediate high risk or is considered unlikely to attend again," the guidance adds.
The guidance, which was updated Thursday, also notes that "there is no evidence on the interchangeability of the COVID-19 vaccines although studies are underway," and thus "every effort should be made to determine which vaccine the individual received and to complete with the same vaccine."
Next week, the United Kingdom is set to begin distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine developed by England's University of Oxford and manufactured by British-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, after the drug was approved Wednesday for emergency supply. Another COVID-19 vaccine developed by U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech was approved in the U.K. on Dec. 2 and rollout began a week later.
ABC News' Zoe Magee contributed to this report.