Coronavirus updates: Los Angeles County to prohibit gatherings, close playgrounds

Cases are on the rise in Southern California.

A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now infected more than 61 million people and killed over 1.4 million worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.


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Daily virus deaths hit new high in Russia

Russia registered 491 more fatalities from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, marking the country's highest single-day death toll from the disease so far.

An additional 24,326 cases of COVID-19 were also confirmed nationwide, down from the previous day's peak of 25,173 newly diagnosed infections. The cumulative total now stands at 2,138,828 confirmed cases, including 37,031 deaths, according to Russia's coronavirus response headquarters.

Russia has seen a resurgence in COVID-19 infections in recent weeks, with multiple back-to-back days of record-high deaths and cases. The Eastern European nation of 145 million people has the fifth-highest tally of confirmed cases in the world, behind only the United States, India, Brazil and France, according to a real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said Tuesday that a mass COVID-19 vaccination campaign is expected to begin next year, according to the Interfax news agency. She noted that immunization will be voluntary.

More than 2 million doses of Sputnik V, a COVID-19 vaccine developed by the Russian Ministry of Health's Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, will be produced by the end of the year, Golikova said.

ABC News' Alina Lobzina contributed to this report.


Death toll from outbreak at Illinois veterans home rises to 27

A COVID-19 outbreak at a veterans home in Illinois has left more than two dozen people dead, according to a report by Chicago ABC station WLS-TV.

At least 27 veterans who lived at the Illinois Veterans Home in LaSalle, some 100 miles southwest of Chicago, have died from COVID-19, according to WLS, which cited the Illinois Department of Veterans.

"That's over 20 percent of our veterans that have passed away in the past several weeks," state Sen. Sue Rezin told WLS.

Rezin said the facility, which is in her district, continues to see an alarming rise in COVID-19 cases.

"November 4th, there were only four cases of COVID within the home," she said. "Very quickly within the past 20 days, we've had almost 200 cases."

The Illinois Senate Veterans Affairs Committee will meet virtually Tuesday to discuss the crises at the LaSalle facility.

"We need answers and we need answers today," Rezin said.

So far, a total of 96 residents and 93 employees at the Illinois Veterans Home in LaSalle have tested positive for COVID-19, according to a statement from the facility's administrator, Angela Mehlbrech. The veterans home has been conducting health screenings of its residents and staff, maintaining social distancing practices, wearing face coverings as well as intensifying cleaning and disinfecting protocols.

An infection control team has been sent to the facility, according to Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

"When there is massive, widespread community spread," Pritzker told WLS, "there's no way to keep it out of every facility."


US reports over 169,000 new cases

There were 169,190 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 21st straight day that the country has reported over 100,000 newly diagnosed infections. Monday's count falls under the all-time high of 196,004 new cases on Nov. 20.

An additional 889 fatalities from COVID-19 were also registered nationwide on Monday, down from a peak of 2,609 new deaths on April 15.

A total of 12,420,872 people in the United States have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, and at least 257,701 of them have died, according to Johns Hopkins. 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 and crossing 100,000 for the first time on Nov. 4.


US marks 2 weeks of record hospitalizations

The COVID Tracking Project announced that 85,836 people are currently hospitalized in the United States with COVID-19.

This marks the 14th consecutive day of record-setting hospitalization numbers in the country, according to the health data.

"Only 4 states—Hawaii, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont—have fewer than 100 people per million hospitalized with COVID-19," the COVID Tracking Project tweeted.

The U.S. recorded 105,975 new coronavirus cases and 956 new deaths Monday. The seven-day average of deaths is now over 1,500, an 87% increase since Nov. 1, according to the health data.


Vermont officials urge residents to quarantine after Thanksgiving

Vermont officials are urging people who had Thanksgiving gatherings with those outside their household to now quarantine.

“My request to Vermonters who may have participated in travel and/or multi-household gatherings is simply this: Please quarantine yourselves at home, and please get tested now and in seven days,” state Health Commissioner Dr. Mark Levine said during a press briefing Friday.

Gov. Phil Scott echoed the health commissioner’s request.

“If you have had one of those gatherings yesterday, then you shouldn't send your kids to school next week," he said. "You should quarantine your kids for at least seven days, get a test, and then we'll move forward."

Scott said earlier in the week that school officials will ask returning students if they attended a Thanksgiving gathering with people outside their household to determine quarantine requirements.

"We did all of this to try and protect Vermont, to try and prevent the rise in the number of cases," Scott said Friday.

ABC News' Joshua Hoyos contributed to this report