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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Pentagon policy chief tests positive for COVID after meeting Lithuanian defense minister
The Pentagon’s top policy chief, Anthony Tata, has tested positive for COVID-19 after his Monday meeting with Lithuania’s defense minister, Raimundas Karoblis.
On Thursday. the Lithuanian embassy informed the Pentagon that the minister had tested positive for the virus.
During his visit to the Pentagon, Karoblis met with multiple senior leaders, including acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller, the secretaries of the Army and Air Force and the secretary of the Navy. All have tested negative since their meetings. Tata is now self-isolating.
ABC News' Luis Martinez contributed to this report.
51 states and territories in upward trajectory of new cases: HHS
There are 51 states and territories in an upward trajectory of new COVID-19 cases, according to an internal Health and Human Services memo obtained by ABC News Thursday night.
Two jurisdictions are at a plateau, and one is going down, the memo said.
There were 1,151,468 new cases confirmed during the period of Nov. 12 to 18 -- a 35.4% increase from the previous seven-day period. There were 8,601 deaths, up 8.3% over the previous week.
The national test-positivity rate increased to 11.1% from 9.6% in week-to-week comparisons.
Across the country, 29% of hospitals have more than 80% of their ICU beds filled. That number was 17%-18% during the summertime peak.
Iowa, Indiana, Maryland and Pennsylvania in particular are seeing high rates of hospitalizations. In Ohio, hospitalizations could quadruple by Christmas at the current rate of growth, the memo said.
ABC News' Josh Margolin contributed to this report
COVID-19 tests, cases, hospitalizations break records in US
Daily COVID-19 tests, cases and current hospitalizations in the U.S. all set new records on Thursday, based on tallies by The COVID Tracking Project.
There were 1,971 reported deaths -- the highest since May 7. North and South Dakota are reporting the highest totals of fatalities per capita in the U.S., according to the data.
States reported 1.8 million daily tests and 182,832 new cases, and 80,698 people are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, according to the tracker.
Thirteen states, primarily in the Midwest, saw more than 1,000 cases per million people, it said.
"This wave of cases arrives in a moment when many hospital systems across the country are already inundated with COVID-19 patients and are warning of staff shortages," the COVID Tracking Project said in its weekly report
There aren't any indications that case numbers have peaked either, it said.
States reported 8,461 deaths this week, the highest weekly death count since May, the tracker said.
"The record levels of hospitalizations we’re already seeing will almost certainly be followed by a spike in the reported fatalities," it said.
Visitors to Hawaii can show negative COVID-19 test to avoid quarantine
People planning to visit Hawaii soon can show proof of a negative COVID-19 test to bypass the state's mandatory 14-day quarantine.
Hawaii Gov. David Ige announced that beginning Tuesday, visitors to the state must have a negative COVID-19 test in hand from "a trusted testing partner" to avoid the quarantine.
If test results are not available before boarding the final leg of the trip, then the traveler must quarantine, he said.
The policy applies to both international and domestic flights.
ABC News' Marilyn Heck contributed to this report.
FDA could approve emergency use of Pfizer vaccine in December
Pfizer said it's completed its submission to the Food and Drug Administration in which the company requests emergency use authorization for its vaccine.
The FDA is expected to start digging into the efficacy and safety data immediately, and it could make a decision as early as mid-December.
ABC News' Sony Salzman contributed to this report.