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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Japan declares state of emergency in 7 more prefectures

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga declared a state of emergency in seven additional areas on Wednesday, as COVID-19 cases continued to climb.

The latest state of emergency was declared for the prefectures of Osaka, Hyogo, Kyoto, Aichi, Gifu, Fukuoka, and Tochigi.

The move comes one week after Suga declared a state of emergency in Tokyo and three neighboring prefectures due to rising infections and a growing death toll.

A state of emergency declaration gives the governors of those respective regions the authority to ask residents for cooperation in efforts to curb the spread of the virus. There are currently no legal ramifications for non-compliance.

Under the state of emergency, which takes immediate effect and is expected to end Feb. 7 for all 11 prefectures, Suga said governors will ask residents to refrain from dining out and to stay home after 8 p.m. unless for essential reasons. They will also ask companies to decrease the number of employees commuting to work by 70%.

Suga said bars and restaurants will be asked to stop serving alcohol by 7 p.m. and to close by 8 p.m. Governors may disclose the name of the businesses that don't comply, while those that do will be given 1.8 million Japanese yen ($17,000) per month.

Spectator events will be limited to an audience of 5,000 people. Schools will not be asked to close, according to Suga.

Suga's predecessor, Shinzo Abe, declared a nationwide state of emergency relatively early in the pandemic in April, which lasted for a month. At that time, residents were asked to reduce person-to-person contact by 80% and to practice "jishuku," or "self-restraint," by staying at home and closing non-essential businesses.

The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare registered 4,521 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 as well as 51 additional deaths from the disease on Tuesday, bringing the country's cumulative total to 295,257 cases with at least 4,144 deaths.

ABC News' Anthony Trotter contributed to this report.


US sees deadliest day yet from COVID-19

There were a record 4,327 new deaths from COVID-19 registered in the United States on Tuesday, according to a real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University.

Tuesday's tally overtakes the country's previous all-time high of 4,194 fatalities from the disease, which were registered on Jan. 7, Johns Hopkins data shows.

An additional 215,805 new cases of COVID-19 were also confirmed nationwide on Tuesday, down from a peak of 302,506 newly confirmed infections on Jan. 2. It's the eighth consecutive day that the country has reported more than 200,000 new cases, 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 22,846,808 people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, and at least 380,796 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, then reaching 200,000 on Nov. 27 before topping 300,000 on Jan. 2.


Texas surpasses 2 million total cases

Texas has become the second U.S. state to have a total of more than 2 million diagnosed cases of COVID-19.

The Lone Star state surpassed the grim milestone late Tuesday, with a cumulative tally of 2,014,645 confirmed cases. California currently has 2,795,978, according to a real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University.


More Americans died of COVID-19 in past week than during last flu season 

More people in the United States died of COVID-19 in the past week than they did from the flu during all of last season, data show.

There were an estimated 22,000 flu deaths nationwide during the 2019-2020 flu season, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The flu season was regarded as moderate and stretched out over several months.

By contrast, there were 23,119 new COVID-19 deaths reported between Jan. 6-12, according to The COVID Tracking Project.

-ABC News' Anne Flaherty


Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club warned about mask violations, could face future fines

Weeks after video emerged of mostly maskless partygoers at U.S. President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, county officials are cracking down.

Palm Beach County sent a letter this week, acquired by ABC News, warning the club and saying officials had met with representatives from the club about violations. Masks are mandatory in the county in all businesses or establishments, and anywhere in public social distancing cannot be maintained. The mandate is currently in place through Jan. 20 -- the same day the county's most famous resident will be exiting the White House.

"Thank you for meeting with us last week to discuss the concerning allegations regarding the Mar a Lago New Year's Eve party and lack of facial coverings being worn during evening activities," the county wrote in the letter addressed to Bernd Lembcke, executive vice president and managing director of Mar-a-Lago Club.

"We recount that you provided masks for all party goers who attended the party and that you provided additional masks for those that walked from the reception area to the main dining ballroom," the letter continued. "Although you provided these important steps, it seemed that based on the video evidence, there was a breakdown in enforcement of the mask orders that led to almost the entire room of guests being without masks during the later evening activities."

The letter also includes a confirmation of the violation, which is a first-time warning, that lays out a fine of up to $15,000 for each potential future violation.

Trump has consistently downplayed wearing masks over the course of the entire pandemic. Despite telling people to wear masks on occasion at official briefings, he also mocked others for wearing them, including President-elect Joe Biden. Many supporters have decried mandates and openly flouted rules, including maskless Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol last week.

ABC News' Will Gretsky contributed to this report.