Coronavirus updates: 23-year-old college student dies from COVID-19
Jamesha Waddell, a senior at Livingstone College, died Thursday.
A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 1.3 million people worldwide.
Over 58.7 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 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. The criteria for diagnosis -- through clinical means or a lab test -- has also varied from country to country.
The United States is the worst-affected nation, with more than 12.2 million diagnosed cases and at least 256,783 deaths.
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 records deadliest day in over 6 months
Hours after the U.S. crossed the milestone of 250,000 deaths, states reported another 1,869 American lives lost on Wednesday -- the deadliest day in more than six months, according to the COVID Tracking Project.
Daily fatalities have risen by 76% in the last month, averaging more than 1,200 daily.
Nearly 80,000 are hospitalized across the U.S. -- about 20,000 more than during peaks in April and July.
ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos Brian Hartman, Soorin Kim and Ben Bell contributed to this report.
1 person dying of COVID-19 every 17 seconds in Europe
More than 29,000 people in Europe died last week of COVID-19, equalling one about every 17 seconds, said Dr. Hans Henri P. Kluge, the World Health Organization's regional director for the continent.
Some intensive care units in Switzerland are at full capacity, he said, while in France, intensive care wards have been at over 95% capacity for 10 days.
"Every time we choose to follow guidance, stop the spread of misinformation or address denial, we contribute to preventing lives lost," Kluge said. "This is avoidable."
ABC News' Christine Theodorou contributed to this report.
CDC predicts at least 276,000 Americans dead by Dec. 12
The CDC predicts that between 276,000 and 298,000 Americans will be dead from COVID-19 by Dec. 12.
Earlier this month, the CDC forecasted that the U.S. would hit at least 250,000 deaths by Thanksgiving weekend. That grim milestone was reached on Wednesday.
ABC News' Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.
CDC recommends against Thanksgiving travel
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending that Americans do not travel for Thanksgiving.
"We're seeing exponential growth in cases," CDC COVID-19 incident manager Dr. Henry Walke said. "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."
United Airlines, American Airlines and Southwest all reported a spike in cancellations over the last week.
ABC News' Stephanie Ebbs and Sam Sweeney contributed to this report.