Coronavirus updates: Fauci sets record straight on masks after debate

Fauci said his stance on masks were "taken out of context."

A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 1 million people worldwide.

Over 33.8 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.

The United States is the worst-affected country, with more than 7.2 million diagnosed cases and at least 206,905 deaths.

California has the most cases of any U.S. state, with more than 819,000 people diagnosed, according to Johns Hopkins data. California is followed by Texas and Florida, with over 770,000 cases and over 706,000 cases, respectively.

Nearly 190 vaccine candidates for COVID-19 are being tracked by the World Health Organization, at least nine of which are in crucial phase three trials.


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Kentucky on pace for record week of coronavirus cases

On Tuesday, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear reported 1,018 new cases -- the state's second highest single-day increase since March 6.

“It ought to be a wake-up call,” Beshear said. “What that means is we are on pace to have even more cases than last week where we set a record number of cases.”

Kentucky is one of 22 states currently considered in the "red zone" for cases according to the latest White House Coronavirus Task Force briefing obtained by ABC News.

The official rate of positive tests, a seven-day average, remains below 5 percent, at 4.24 percent. In addition to the second-highest number of daily cases, Kentucky reported 72,808 new tests on Tuesday, the second-highest amount announced in a single day since the start of the pandemic. A total of 1,446,385 tests have been administered since early March.


MLB to allow fans in stadium for NLCS, World Series

MLB announced it will allow fans inside a ballpark for the first time since the COVID pandemic.

The league will sell 11,500 tickets per game for the National League Championship Series and World Series, which will be played at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. The stadium’s seating capacity is 40,300.

The league said 10,550 fans will be spread throughout the ballpark while 950 will be in suites, and there will be precautions in place.

Tickets will be sold in groups of four contiguous seats, called pods, and individuals will be limited to one pod per game. Each pod will be at least 6 feet apart from each other and the pods will be at least 20 feet away from players.

All fans are mandated to wear masks and tickets within pods can’t be broken up for sale.

The NLCS begins Oct. 12 and the World Series begins on Oct. 20. The American League Championship Series, being held in San Diego, will not allow fans.