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 reports over 170K new cases
There were 170,161 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in the United States on Wednesday, according to a real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University.
It's the sixth day in a row that the country has reported over 150,000 newly diagnosed infections. Wednesday's count is slightly less than the all-time high of 177,224 on Nov. 13.
An additional 1,848 fatalities from COVID-19 were also registered nationwide on Wednesday, the highest since May 7 but still under a peak of 2,609 new deaths on April 15.
A total of 11,529,818 people in the United States have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, and at least 250,537 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.
New cases up nearly 40% from last week, according to HHS memo
New COVID-19 cases in the U.S. increased nearly 40% in week-over-week comparisons, according to an internal Health and Human Services memo obtained by ABC News.
The number of new cases confirmed from Nov. 11 to 17 (over 1.1 million) was a 38.9% increase from the previous seven-day period, the memo said. The national test-positivity rate increased to 11% from 9.3% during that time.
Deaths also increased 8.4% in week-to-week comparisons, the memo said.
Across the country, 27% of hospitals have more than 80% of their intensive care unit beds filled. That number was 17% to 18% during the summertime peak.
Arkansas and Indiana have recently reported record hospitalizations, HHS said, while Kentucky, New Mexico, South Carolina, Texas, Tennessee and Oklahoma have also seen notable increases. In Minnesota, the areas bordering Wisconsin are reporting over 85% usage of critical care beds at hospitals, according to the memo.
ABC News' Josh Margolin contributed to this report.
US records highest daily death count since May
The U.S. saw 1,869 deaths reported on Wednesday, the highest daily death count since May 7, according to The COVID Tracking Project.
The country saw nearly 164,000 new cases and more than 79,000 Americans are hospitalized with the virus, a record number according to the health data.
A dozen states, including New York, Florida, California and Indiana, recorded more than 5,000 new cases, according to the data.
Twenty-six states currently have over 1,000 patients in the hospital for COVID-19-related issues, according to The COVID Tracking Project.
Minnesota to enact new restrictions
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced a new set of coronavirus restrictions for nonessential businesses will go into effect this weekend.
Starting at midnight on Saturday, all restaurants are closed to in-person dining and gyms and other indoor entertainment will be closed. In-person social gatherings outside of the household are prohibited, as are weddings, private parties and other social occasions.
Hair salons, barbershops and retail stores are exempt from the new restrictions. Places of worship, schools, dental offices and elective surgeries, which are already operating in a limited fashion, will also not be further limited by the new restrictions.
"Today marks a somber milestone in the pandemic as we surpass 3,000 Minnesotans lost to COVID-19," Walz said.
The governor added that hospitals are at the "breaking point" and nearing a situation where they will have to turn away new patients.
The restrictions will remain in effect for at least four weeks.