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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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.
More dead so far this month than all of August
In the first 11 days of January, the U.S. reported more than 30,000 lives lost to COVID-19 -- that's more deaths in 11 days than the entire month of August.
The virus is now claiming more lives every day than number of Americans killed on Sept. 11, according to ABC News’ analysis of data compiled by the COVID Tracking Project.
Nearly 130,000 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 across the country.
Data released Monday showed six states hitting a record number of current hospitalizations: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Maryland and Virginia.
California has the most people hospitalized of any state with more than 22,000 patients. California is followed by Texas, New York, Florida and Georgia.
ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos contributed to this report.
Disneyland, Mets' Citi Field to become vaccination sites
Citi Field, home to the New York Mets, will become a 24/7 mega-vaccination site to open the week of Jan. 25.
The Queens baseball stadium will vaccinate 5,000 to 7,000 people daily.
“We even welcome Yankees fans," New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio joked.
Citi Field is the latest sports facility to convert to a mass vaccination site, joining Los Angeles’ Dodger Stadium and Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium.
Disneyland is set to become the first mass vaccination site in Orange County, California, later this week.
ABC News’ Aaron Katersky and Mark Crudele contributed to this report.
FDA comments on reports of deaths in Norway following COVID-19 vaccination
The Norwegian Medicines Agency on Thursday reported a total of 29 people had suffered side effects, 13 of them fatal, according to The Associated Press. All the deaths occurred among patients in nursing homes and all were over the age of 80.
A spokesperson from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration told ABC News on Saturday regarding the deaths in Norway: "To date, we have not seen any new safety signals In the U.S. following administration of either authorized COVID-19 vaccine, and therefore do not currently plan to make any changes."
In the U.S. any reports of death following vaccination are "promptly and rigorously investigated" by the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the spokesperson said.