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:
More people without underlying conditions dying from COVID-19 in LA
Early in the pandemic, 10% of patients who died from COVID-19 in Los Angeles County did not have underlying conditions, according to health officials. Today, that number has risen to 14% of patient deaths.
"This indicates, that in fact, that more people than ever are not only passing away, but passing away without any underlying health conditions," Barbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles County department of public health, said during a New Year's Eve news conference.
Hospitals in Los Angeles are currently overwhelmed to the point that ambulances are waiting hours in emergency bays with patients inside, which prevents medics from responding to additional emergency calls. The death toll in Los Angeles County stands at 10,345.
Bidens thank front-line workers, encourage Americans to get vaccine in NYE interview
President-elect Joe Biden and future first lady Jill Biden thanked front-line workers in a pretaped segment for "Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve," telling host Ryan Seacrest the country "owed them for their service."
"They did so much. They risked their lives, they've done so much for us and we owe them,” Joe Biden said.
“We're so grateful for everything they did," Jill Biden added. "You know, they left their families and their homes so that we could be safe and all Americans truly appreciate what they did for us.”
The Bidens talked about getting Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine two weeks ago and urged others to get the vaccine.
"I took it, it doesn't hurt. I didn't have any aftereffects," Jill Biden said. "So, everybody has to take it so that we can all be safe.”
The president-elect also looked ahead to 2021, saying he was “absolutely confident” that the country will come back stronger than ever.
ABC News' Beatrice Peterson and Molly Nagle contributed to this report.
Case of UK variant found in Florida
Florida has identified its first case of the U.K. COVID-19 variant, health officials said Thursday night.
The case is in a Martin County man in his 20s "with no history of travel," the Florida Department of Health said on Twitter.
This marks the third state in the U.S., following Colorado and California, to identify cases of the variant.
U.K. health officials have found that the new COVID-19 variant isn’t more deadly than the prior dominant variant, but it is likely more transmissible. Experts also believe that the authorized vaccines will still be effective against it.
December deadliest month of the pandemic in US
December was the deadliest month of the pandemic in the U.S., even with data disruptions due to the holidays, according to The COVID Tracking Project.
There were 76,580 reported deaths due to COVID-19 this month, far surpassing the previous record of 55,267 set in April. Every week in December was deadlier than any week earlier in the year, the tracker said.
There were 221,444 new cases and 3,255 deaths reported on Thursday, according to the tracker. A record 125,379 people are also currently hospitalized with COVID-19.
There continue to be disruptions in testing, case and death figures due to the holidays, though hospitalizations "remain relatively stable," the tracker said.
'No evidence' coronavirus variant is in US: HHS assistant secretary
Adm. Brett Giroir, the assistant secretary for health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) spoke to "Good Morning America" Monday morning to discuss the new coronavirus variant taking over the U.K.
"We don't have proof that it's here, but we do suspect that it is likely here, given the global interconnectedness," Giroir said. "We have no evidence that it's here. It's certainly not widespread here, but we need to look and make sure it's not here."
He added that while "there is increasing evidence that it really is more transmissible" or contagious, due to the viral load that people with that strain have been shown to have, there is "no evidence that it is more serious."
There is no evidence that people who become infected with the variant are more likely to be hospitalized or die, Giroir said.
"And we still believe -- don't have absolute proof -- but we have very good evidence and a good belief that the vaccines will still be effective," he added.