COVID-19 updates: Anti-vaccine protesters halt vaccinations at Dodger Stadium

Demonstrators carrying anti-mask and anti-vaccine signs blocked the entrance.

A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now infected more than 102.5 million people worldwide and killed over 2.2 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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South Carolina confirms its 1st case of UK variant

An adult in South Carolina’s Lowcountry region has become the state’s first confirmed case of the United Kingdom COVID-19 variant, South Carolina’s Department of Health and Environmental Control said.

The person "has an international travel history," the department said.

The U.S. has confirmed at least 434 cases of the B.1.1.7 U.K. variant across 30 states, South Carolina officials said.

"Experts agree that existing vaccines work to protect us from this variant, even if we don’t know just how effective they are," the South Carolina officials said. "At this time, there’s no conclusive evidence to prove that the B.1.1.7 variant causes more severe illness."

ABC News’ Josh Hoyos contributed to this report.


Coachella, Stagecoach canceled

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts and Stagecoach Country Music festivals, set for April, were canceled on Friday by Dr. Cameron Kaiser, health officer for Riverside County, California.

Riverside County’s positivity rate stands at 20%. The county has 0% bed availability in its intensive care units.


US surpasses 90,000 deaths in January

January has been the deadliest month since the pandemic began, with 90,844 total deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

The U.S. coronavirus death toll stands at 436,810 -- with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention projecting that more than 77,000 deaths could be reported by Feb. 20.


Brazil variant detected in California

California is now the second U.S. state with known detection of the Brazil P.1 variant.

Minnesota health officials confirmed earlier this week the nation's first known COVID-19 case associated with the variant.

Inside Stanford's Clinical Virology Laboratory, Dr. Benjamin Pinsky and his team found two strains of the virus: the Brazil strain and the U.K. strain, KGO reported Saturday morning.

"It's in about 17% of the samples that we've sequenced," Pinsky told KGO.


New variants fuel Africa's 2nd wave, WHO says

COVID-19 cases and deaths are surging across Africa as new, more contagious variants of the novel coronavirus spread to additional countries, the World Health Organization warned Thursday.

"The variant which was first detected in South Africa has spread quickly beyond Africa and so what’s keeping me awake at night right now is that it’s very likely circulating in a number of African countries," Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO's regional director for Africa, said in a statement.

Diagnosed COVID-19 infections increased by 50% in Africa between Dec. 29 and Jan. 25, when compared with the previous four weeks. Deaths from the disease rose two-fold in the same period, with over 15,000 concentrated in 10 mainly southern and northern African nations, according to the WHO.

Over the last week, more than 175,000 new cases and over 6,200 new deaths were reported across the continent. There was a small dip in cases in South Africa, but 22 countries continue to see their numbers surge, according to the WHO.

The B1351 variant, first identified in South Africa, is "predominant and powering record case numbers in South Africa and the sub-region," the WHO said. The strain has been detected in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, the French Indian Ocean region of Mayotte, Zambia and at least 24 non-African nations, according to the WHO.

Meanwhile, another new, highly contagious variant called B117, which was initially detected in the United Kingdom, has been found in Gambia and Nigeria.

The WHO said it is working to track and tackle new strains of the deadly virus. The U.N. agency, along with the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has helped set up a COVID-19 genomic sequencing laboratory network with labs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda.

"In addition to the new variants, COVID-19 fatigue, and the aftermath of year-end gatherings risk powering a perfect storm and driving up Africa’s second wave and overwhelming health facilities," Moeti said. "Africa is at a crossroads. We must stick to our guns and double down on the tactics we know work so well. That is mask wearing, handwashing and safe social distancing. Countless lives depend on it."