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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182 arrested during underground 'super-spreader' parties in Los Angeles County, authorities say

Authorities arrested 182 people in Southern California's Los Angeles County on Saturday during a crackdown on underground "super-spreader" parties in the area.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said the arrests, which were cited out, occurred at two commercial buildings.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva "has made it clear he will seek out & take law enforcement action against ALL underground party events occurring anywhere within Los Angeles County, who fall under the Health Orders of the County’s Department of Public Health," the sheriff's department wrote on Twitter.

"The goal of these enforcement actions is to reduce the spread of #COVID19 and the risk to our vulnerable populations," the department tweeted.


US reports over 204,000 new cases

There were 204,652 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in the United States on Monday, according to a real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University.

It's the seventh straight day that the country has reported more than 200,000 newly confirmed infections. Monday's tally is less than the all-time high of 302,506 new cases, which the country logged on Jan. 2, Johns Hopkins data shows.

An additional 1,731 new deaths from COVID-19 were also registered nationwide Monday, down from the country's peak of 4,194 fatalities on Jan. 7, according to Johns Hopkins data.

COVID-19 data may be skewed due to possible lags in reporting over the holidays followed by a potentially very large backlog.

A total of 22,429,685 people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, and at least 376,280 of them have died, according to Johns Hopkins data. The cases include people from all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., and other U.S. territories as well as repatriated citizens.

Much of the country was under lockdown by the end of March as the first wave of pandemic hit. By May 20, all U.S. states had begun lifting stay-at-home orders and other restrictions put in place to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. The day-to-day increase in the country's cases then hovered around 20,000 for a couple of weeks before shooting back up over the summer.

The numbers lingered around 40,000 to 50,000 from mid-August through early October before surging again to record levels, crossing 100,000 for the first time on Nov. 4 and reaching 200,000 for the first time on Nov. 27.


Rep. Pramila Jayapal tests positive following US Capitol siege

U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., announced Monday night that she has tested positive for COVID-19.

Jayapal was inside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., when a mob of President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the building last week.

"I just received a positive COVID-19 test result after being locked down in a secured room at the Capitol where several Republicans not only cruelly refused to wear a mask but recklessly mocked colleagues and staff who offered them one," Jayapal wrote on Twitter.

Jayapal and her colleagues in the House of Representatives were in the middle of certifying Electoral College votes when pro-Trump protesters who had been demonstrating outside broke into the Capitol building on Jan. 6. Some members of Congress were forced to evacuate while others had to shelter in place as authorities worked to secure the building.

"Only hours after Trump incited a deadly assault on our Capitol, many Republicans still refused to take the bare minimum COVID-19 precaution and simply wear a damn mask in a crowded room during a pandemic—creating a superspreader event ON TOP of a domestic terrorist attack," Jayapal tweeted.

The congresswoman also called for members of Congress to be fined for not wearing face masks on Capitol grounds.

"Any Member who refuses to wear a mask should be fully held accountable for endangering our lives because of their selfish idiocy," she added. "I'm calling for every single Member who refuses to wear a mask in the Capitol to be fined and removed from the floor by the Sergeant at Arms."

Dr. Brian Monahan, the attending physician of Congress, advised representatives and congressional staff on Sunday that those in the secured room could have, “been exposed to another occupant with coronavirus infection," according to a statement from Jayapal's office.

Jayapal said she has been quarantining since last Thursday -- prior to her positive COVID-19 test -- amid fears she was exposed during the potential "superspreader event."


Nearly 81 million Americans live in county where ICU capacity is 90% or more

In the United States, 80,990,232 people live in a county where the average intensive care unit (ICU) capacity exceeds 90%, according to new data compiled by the COVID-19 Hospitalization Tracking Project at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management.

ICU capacity was most strained in the Southwest, West and Southeast, the report found, with all three regions at 80% ICU capacity or higher.

-ABC News' Brian Hartman contributed to this report.


Palestinian health ministry approves Russian vaccine

Sputnik V, a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Russia, has been registered by the Palestinian Ministry of Health for emergency use in Palestinian self-ruled territory, Russia's sovereign wealth fund announced Monday.

The first shipment of doses is expected to arrive next month, according to a press release from the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which is responsible for worldwide marketing of the vaccine.

The RDIF didn't say how many doses would be shipped to the Palestinian Authority -- which governs parts of the West Bank under interim peace deals with Israel -- but that supplies would be facilitated by manufacturing partners in India, China, South Korea and other countries.

As of Jan. 5, the World Health Organization had recorded more than 157,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the occupied Palestinian territories, including at least 1,578 deaths.

ABC News' Patrick Reevell contributed to this report.