COVID-19 updates: US sees 1st day since early November with fewer than 100,000 new cases
The U.S. reported just over 96,000 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Sunday.
A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now infected more than 105 million people worldwide and killed over 2.3 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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Tokyo Olympics organizers unveil pandemic playbook
Olympics organizers unveiled on Wednesday the first of a series of "playbooks," step-by-step guides for key stakeholders to a safe and successful Games in Tokyo this summer amid the coronavirus pandemic.
"We are very confident for a number of reasons," Christophe Dubi, Olympic Games executive director of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), said during a virtual press conference. "Tokyo is the best prepared city we have ever seen."
The playbooks explain what to do before leaving home, when entering Japan, during the Games and when leaving the country. The outlined protocols include physical distancing and good hygiene measures, regular testing and temperature checks, as well as rules of conduct until departing Japan.
"Safety would be the utmost priority," Hidemasa Nakamura, Games delivery officer of the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee, told reporters. "The virus will not completely disappear, wherever you are."
"Of course, we have no telling of what the situation will be in the summer," he added.
The playbook released Wednesday, which is for members of international federations and technical officials, states that individuals must take a COVID-19 test approved by the Japanese government within 72 hours of the departure time of their flight to the country, be prepared to take another test at the airport in Japan, expect regular testing during the Games depending on the nature of their role, be ready to have their temperature checked every time they enter an Olympic venue and be prepared to take a final COVID-19 test before departing Japan. They will not need to self-quarantine upon arrival in Japan, nor will they be required to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to participate in the Games.
Additional playbooks for athletes, members of the press and others will be published in the coming weeks ahead of the opening of the already delayed Tokyo Olympics on July 23. Updated editions may also be released as the COVID-19 situation evolves, according to organizers.
A decision on whether to limit spectators will be made by spring. Spectators would also be expected to follow a number of rules, organizers said.
ABC News' Anthony Trotter contributed to this report.
CDC projects up to 534K virus deaths in US by end of February
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now projects that the country will have recorded up to 534,000 COVID-19 deaths by the end of February.
The CDC on Wednesday published its latest national ensemble forecast, which predicts that the country's COVID-19 death rate will likely decrease over the next four weeks, with 11,300 to 22,600 new fatalities from the disease likely reported nationwide in the week ending Feb. 27. A total of 479,000 to 514,000 COVID-19 deaths are projected to be reported nationwide by this date.
Last week’s national ensemble forecast predicted there would be a total of 479,000 to 514,000 COVID-19 deaths reported nationwide by Feb. 20.
Fauci says 'absolutely not' to Super Bowl parties
Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser on COVID-19 to U.S. President Joe Biden, said people should "absolutely not" host or attend any Super Bowl parties this weekend.
"Watch the Super Bowl on TV, enjoy it, have a party in your house with your family with the people who are there," Fauci told ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos in an interview Wednesday on "Good Morning America."
"You don't want parties with people that you haven't had that much contact with, you just don't know if they're infected," he added. "So as difficult as that is, at least this time around, just lay low and cool it."
Fauci, who is also the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, noted that the country is still seeing a "considerable number of cases" each day and there's cause for concern over the new, more contagious variants of the novel coronavirus that were recently detected on U.S. soil.
When asked whether he thinks the Super Bowl could become a superspreader event, Fauci said he hopes not.
"I believe that they are trying to keep people separated enough in the stands wearing masks so they don't have that proximity," he added. "If you're outdoors and you're several feet apart -- 6, 7, 8, 10 feet -- you could be OK, as long as people abide by that and don't slip."
US reports over 114,000 new cases
There were 114,437 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in the United States on Tuesday, according to a real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University.
Tuesday's case count is far less than the country's all-time high of 300,282 newly confirmed infections on Jan. 2, Johns Hopkins data shows.
An additional 3,532 fatalities from COVID-19 were registered nationwide on Tuesday, down from a peak of 4,466 new deaths on Jan. 12, according to Johns Hopkins data.
COVID-19 data may be skewed due to possible lags in reporting over the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday weekend last month.
A total of 26,435,563 people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, and at least 446,901 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.
So far, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized two COVID-19 vaccines for emergency use -- one developed by U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, and another developed by American biotechnology company Moderna and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. More than 32 million vaccine doses have been administered nationwide, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Variants detected at refugee accommodation center in Germany, officials say
An accommodation facility for refugees in the German city of Cologne has been hit by new, more contagious variants of the novel coronavirus, city officials said.
At least 41 residents of the Herkulesstrasse facility have tested positive for COVID-19. Variants first identified in South Africa or Brazil have been detected in 31 of them so far, according to a statement from the city government on Sunday.
At least 16 staff members at the facility have also tested positive for COVID-19, with the South Africa variant detected in 11 of them so far. Variant analysis is still pending on the other five, according to the statement.
All residents of the facility have been under quarantine since Friday, while the site has been under surveillance since Sunday. Entry into the refugee accommodation center, which can house up to 600 people, is currently banned, according to the statement.
The first known COVID-19 cases were confirmed among two employees at the facility about 10 days ago, while the first case of a variant was confirmed last week, according to the statement.
Dr. Harald Rau, head of Cologne's public health department, said the detection of variants at the refugee accommodation center "is a clear alarm signal for all of us."
"I ask all people in Cologne to avoid contact even more consistently than before and to follow the distance and hygiene rules of infection protection," Rau said in a statement Sunday.