Coronavirus updates: FDA OKs remdesivir as 1st approved treatment in US
Remdesivir had already received emergency use authorization.
A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 1.1 million people worldwide.
Over 41.5 million people across the globe have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new respiratory virus, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The criteria for diagnosis -- through clinical means or a lab test -- has varied from country to country. Still, the actual numbers are believed to be much higher due to testing shortages, many unreported cases and suspicions that some national governments are hiding or downplaying the scope of their outbreaks.
Since the first cases were detected in China in December, the virus has rapidly spread to every continent except Antarctica.
The United States is the worst-affected country, with more than 8.4 million diagnosed cases and at least 223,000 deaths.
California has the most cases of any U.S. state, with more than 893,000 people diagnosed, according to Johns Hopkins data. California is followed by Texas and Florida, with over 871,000 cases and over 768,000 cases, respectively.
Nearly 200 vaccine candidates for COVID-19 are being tracked by the World Health Organization, at least 10 of which are in crucial phase three studies. Of those 10 potential vaccines in late-stage trials, there are currently five that will be available in the United States if approved.
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US weekly unemployment filings dip to 787,000
The U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday that weekly unemployment filings have dipped below the 800,000 mark for the first time in months, falling to 787,000 last week.
It's the lowest number of weekly jobless claims since March, when the coronavirus pandemic clobbered the U.S. labor market and the tally of initial unemployment filings peaked at some 6.9 million in a single week.
While the drop is a welcome sign for an economy still entrenched in a pandemic-induced financial crisis, the figure still remains well above pre-pandemic levels. It also dwarfs the previous record for initial claims set in 1982.
ABC News' Catherine Thorbecke contributed to this report.
Germany's daily case count soars past 11,000 to new record high
Germany confirmed 11,287 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, its highest single-day increase since the start of the pandemic.
The latest daily tally soared past the country's previous record of 7,830 new cases set on Saturday.
An additional 30 deaths from COVID-19 were also registered Wednesday. The cumulative totals now stands at 392,049 cases and 9,905 deaths, according to the latest data from the country’s public health institute.
Germany has broken its own record for daily case counts several times this month. While testing has increased since then, the country is among several in Europe that have seen a sharp uptick in COVID-19 infections in recent weeks.
Analysis shows hospitalizations rising in 41 US states plus Guam
An ABC News analysis of COVID-19 trends across all 50 U.S. states as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and Guam found there were increases in hospitalizations over the past two weeks in 41 states plus Guam.
The analysis also found increases in the daily positivity rate of COVID-19 tests in 27 states plus Guam and increases in daily COVID-19 death tolls in 17 states.
Meanwhile, case numbers are higher -- a daily average of at least 15 new cases per 100,000 people over the past week -- and staying high in 31 states plus Puerto Rico and Guam, and case numbers are lower -- a daily average of under 15 new cases per 100,000 people over the past week -- but are going up in nine states.
One state -- North Dakota -- hit a record number of new cases in a 24-hour reporting period. Nine other states -- Arkansas, Iowa, Kentucky, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Wisconsin and West Virginia -- saw a record number of current hospitalizations in day.
The United States is rapidly approaching an average of 60,000 new cases a day, with no signs of slowing. At its peak in July, the country reported an average of 66,000 new cases per day.
Over the last five and a half weeks, new cases across the nation have surged by more than 72%. More than 1 million cases have already been registered in the month of October alone, with over 412,000 reported in just the last seven days.
States across the Midwest such as Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wisconsin all continue to consistently report high numbers, while other states such as Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Ohio continue to trend upward.
Additionally, nearly 40,000 Americans are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, the highest in almost two months.
The trends were all analyzed from data collected and published by the COVID Tracking Project over the past two weeks, using the linear regression trend line of the seven-day moving average to examine whether a state's key indicators were increasing, decreasing or remained flat.
ABC News' Benjamin Bell, Brian Hartman, Soorin Kim and Arielle Mitropolous contributed to this report.
Belgium's foreign minister admitted to ICU for COVID-19
Belgian Foreign Minister Sophie Wilmes was hospitalized for COVID-19 and admitted to an intensive care unit on Wednesday evening, a spokesperson told ABC News.
The 45-year-old's condition remains stable, the spokesperson said.
Wilmes, who was the caretaker prime minister of Belgium during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, announced via Twitter on Saturday that she had tested positive for COVID-19, saying that the "contamination probably happened within my family circle given all precautions taken outside of my home."
She is the country's first woman foreign minister, as well as the first and only woman prime minister in Belgian history.
ABC News' Aicha El Hammar Castano contributed to this report.
Utah hospitals 'overwhelmed,' governor says
In Utah, hospitals are "overwhelmed" and Gov. Gary Herbert is warning that "the stress they are experiencing is unsustainable."
Caregivers are “tired” and “emotionally spent,” a state official said at a Thursday news conference.
"This is why we have required masks in high and moderate transmission areas and also asked residents in these areas to limit gatherings to 10 or fewer," Herbert tweeted Thursday.
"Many Utahns have been taking this virus seriously and are abiding by precautionary measures. But some who haven’t seen the full range of ill effects coronavirus can have are unaware of the issues it causes within our medical and business communities,” he said.
Utah has over 99,500 cases and at least 563 deaths.