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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Italy death toll surpasses 50,000

There were 22,930 new cases in Italy on Monday and 630 additional deaths, the country's Civil Protection Agency reported.

Italy now has 1,431,795 total COVID-19 cases and 50,453 deaths.

-ABC News' Christine Theodorou


England lockdown to end next week as planned

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Monday that a monthlong, nationwide lockdown in England will be lifted next week as scheduled.

Nonessential businesses and shops, including gyms and hair salons, will be allowed to reopen when the country returns to a regional tiered system of COVID-19 restrictions after Dec. 2.

"For the first time since this wretched virus took hold, we can see a route out of the pandemic," Johnson told members of Parliament, adding that breakthroughs in testing, treatments and vaccines should reduce the need for restrictions next year.

Unlike previous restrictions, the tiered measures will be a uniform set of rules and much tougher. The prime minister is expected to announced which parts of the county is in which tier on Thursday.

"I can't say that Christmas will be normal this year," Johnson said. "We all want some kind of Christmas; we need it, we certainly feel we deserve it. But what we don't want is to throw caution to the winds and allow the virus to flare up again, forcing us all back into lockdown."

ABC News' Christine Theodorou contributed to this report.


TSA screens over 3M flyers in 3 days ahead of Thanksgiving

More than 3 million people went through airport security checkpoints across the United States between Friday and Sunday, despite public health guidance against traveling for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screened 1,019,836 individuals on Friday and 984,369 on Saturday. But Sunday saw the most travelers, with TSA screening 1,047,934 people -- the highest since the coronavirus pandemic was declared in mid-March.

The previous pandemic record was set on Oct. 18, the Sunday after the long Columbus Day weekend, when TSA screened 1,031,505 individuals.

Last week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it is recommending that Americans do not travel for Thanksgiving.

"It's not a requirement, it's a recommendation for the American public to consider," Dr. Henry Walke, the CDC's COVID-19 incident manager, told reporters during a call on Nov. 19. "Right now, as we're seeing exponential growth in cases and the opportunity to translocate disease or infection from one part of the country to another leads to our recommendation to avoid travel at this time."

ABC News' Sam Sweeney contributed to this report.


'We are at a dire point,' US surgeon general says

U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams said the nation is "at a dire point" in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic, "by any measure."

"Cases, positivity, hospitalizations, deaths -- we are seeing more Americans negatively impacted than ever before. But I also want Americans to understand that we've never had more reason for hope, thanks to science," Adams told ABC News' Cecilia Vega in an interview Monday on "Good Morning America."

"We're going to have people -- the vulnerable -- start to be vaccinated in mere weeks," he added. "So I"m asking Americans, I'm begging you, hold on just a little bit longer, keep Thanksgiving and the celebrations small and smart this year."

Adams advised people to hold Thanksgiving and holiday celebrations outdoors if possible, to keep the gatherings small -- ideally less than 10 attendees -- and to prepare ahead of time.

"Make sure you're not going around out in public and exposing yourself to other people, especially now heading into these celebrations," he said.

When asked about the White House's controversial plans to hold holiday parties indoors, Adams said the public health guidelines "apply to everyone."

"We want everyone to understand that these holiday celebrations can be super-spreader events, so we want them to be smart and we want them to be as small as possible," he said. "These apply to the White House, they apply to the American people, they apply to everyone."


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