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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US deaths 25% higher than any other time during pandemic
The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 continues to climb in the weeks following the end-of-year holidays. Fatalities from the disease nationwide are currently 25% higher than at any other time during the coronavirus pandemic, according to The COVID Tracking Project, a volunteer-run effort to track the U.S. outbreak.
"For scale, COVID-19 deaths reported this week exceed the CDC's estimate of 22K flu-related deaths during the entire 2019-2020 season," The COVID Tracking Project wrote on Twitter Thursday.
There were 3,915 deaths from COVID-19 registered nationwide on Thursday, well above a seven-day average that continues to rise. However, COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations were under the seven-day average on Thursday.
The one bit of good news highlighted by The COVID Tracking Project was that hospitalizations are leveling off. Still, there are 128,947 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 in the United States, much more than at any other time during the pandemic.
The COVID Tracking Project singled out Alabama, Arizona, California and Florida as particularly concerning locations right now. Arizona currently has the worst per-capita case numbers in the world, according to the project.
Newly identified US variant may have emerged in May, study indicates
A newly identified variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 may have emerged in the U.S. in May and could be one of the predominant versions circulating now, researchers at Southern Illinois University found.
Just because a new variant has emerged doesn't mean it's inherently dangerous, experts cautioned. It’s unknown if this new U.S. variant is more transmissible and deadly, but scientists say they are monitoring and continuing to study newly emerging viral variants. On Wednesday, researchers at Ohio State reported two newly identified ones. On Thursday, researchers at Southern Illinois University said they also identified a new variant, which is likely the same as the two identified in Ohio.
Now, researchers at Southern Illinois University are sharing even more details about this U.S. variant, which they are calling 20C-US. Origins of this variant can be traced to May 2020 from a sample in Texas, they said.
The 20C-US variant appears to be widespread in the Upper Midwest and comprises roughly 50% of the samples in the U.S., said Keith T. Gagnon, coauthor of the study and associate professor at Southern Illinois University.
"Let’s not get overly excited -- but be diligent," Gagon said. "Here it was, underneath our noses, for months."
“It doesn't look like it’s going to get in the way of vaccines," Gagnon added.
ABC News’ Sean Llewellyn, Eric Strauss and Sony Salzman contributed to this report.
Texas is 1st US state to administer 1 million vaccines
Texas, home to about 29 million people, has become the first U.S. state to administer more than 1 million vaccine doses, Gov. Greg Abbott said.
Texas has 2,040,751 confirmed cases and at least 31,277 fatalities, according to real-time data collected by Johns Hopkins University.
Texas’ Harris County, home to Houston, ranks No. 5 in the country for the highest number of confirmed cases, behind Los Angeles County, California; Cook County, Illinois; Marciopa County, Arizona; and Miami-Dade County, Florida.
ABC News’ Gina Sunseri contributed to this report.
Brazil variant prompts UK to ban arrivals from some South and Central American countries
The United Kingdom will ban arrivals from several South and Central American countries beginning Friday, following evidence of a new variant of the novel coronavirus from Brazil, British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced Thursday.
The U.K. government will ban arrivals from Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela, according to Shapps.
Travel from Portugal to the U.K. will also be suspended given its strong travel links with Brazil, Shapps said.
ABC News’ Christine Theodorou contributed to this report.
US sees decrease in 7-day averages in cases, hospitalizations, deaths
There has been a nationwide decrease in the seven-day averages for tests, cases, hospitalizations and deaths in the U.S, according to the COVID Tracking Project.
Many states are reporting a decrease in the number of new cases per million people, though California, Virginia and South Caroline reported more than 1,000 new cases per million Sunday.
Along with the states that do not regularly report on Sunday, Washington reported data system issues over the weekend. There will be some disruptions to reporting expected on Monday due to Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
States reported 1.8 million tests, 186,000 cases, 124,387 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19, and 2,044 deaths on Sunday, according to the COVID tracking project.
-ABC News Darren Reynolds