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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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.


Texas reports 3rd case of UK variant

Texas' third case of the COVID-19 variant, B.1.1.7, the same variant discovered in the United Kingdom, has been found in Dallas, Dallas County Health and Human Services reported in a statement Saturday morning.

"The individual is a male resident of the City of Dallas in his 20’s, with no recent history of travel outside of the United States. Results of genetic sequencing this week showed that the infection was caused by the variant. This is the first known case of this variant in a Dallas County resident. The individual is stable and is in isolation. DCHHS epidemiologists are involved with the investigation in identifying and notifying close contacts," the statement read.

- ABC News' James Scholz


7-day averages for cases down across US

There are some encouraging signs in the latest COVID-19 data.

The seven-day averages for cases are declining throughout the U.S., according to The COVID Tracking Project.

The averages are down in all four regions that the tracker compares: Northeast, Midwest, South and West.

On a national level, it appears that COVID-19 hospitalizations are also on the decline, the tracker said. Though it noted that some areas are still seeing an "overwhelming" level of hospitalizations.

The U.S. reported 243,996 new cases, 3,679 new deaths and 127,235 currently hospitalizations on Friday, according to The COVID Tracking Project's tally.


Biden stresses equity, transparency in vaccination plan

President-elect Joe Biden laid out a five-point vaccination plan Friday that he promised would turn the public's "frustration into motivation" and meet his goal of getting 100 million shots into Americans' arms within his first 100 days in office.

The plan includes working with states to open up more priority groups for vaccination, mobilizing a larger workforce to administer vaccines and working directly with independent and chain pharmacies to distribute them. Biden's administration also plans to set up 100 federally funded vaccination centers in school gyms, sports stadiums and mobile clinics to help reach communities that have been hit hard by the virus.

"Equity is central to our COVID response," Biden said.

Scientists in Biden's administration, like the surgeon general, will speak directly to the American people, he added, and pledged to be transparent about "both the good news and the bad" when it came COVID-19 progress. "You’re entitled to know," he said.


NYC mayor calls for UK travel ban

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is calling for "an immediate travel ban from the United Kingdom to the United States."

New York state has 12 cases of the U.K. coronavirus variant, de Blasio said. One of the two cases confirmed in New York City was someone who traveled to the U.K., he said.

“Someone who was in the U.K. has brought the variant back here. We need that stopped. Flights from the United Kingdom should be canceled immediately by the federal government,” de Blasio said.

Beginning Jan. 26, those flying to the U.S. from foreign countries must take a COVID-19 test within three days before their flight, and airlines must confirm the negative test before they board, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Tuesday.

The U.K. variant appears to spread more easily but there’s no evidence that it is more deadly.

Meanwhile, as New York vaccinates more residents, the mayor said, “even with normal supplies that we expect to have delivered next week, we will run out of vaccine as some point next week unless we get a major new resupply because so many New Yorkers want the vaccine and we have the ability to give it to them.”

“We need the federal government, the state government and the manufactures to step up and get us more supply immediately,” he said.

ABC News’ Rachel Katz contributed to this report.