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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New Hampshire governor issues statewide mask mandate
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu issued a statewide mask mandate that will go into effect Friday.
"In looking at the data, it is clear that a statewide mask mandate is in the best interest of our citizens," Sununu tweeted. "Our hospitalization rate is increasing. We have always said that we cannot let our health care system get overrun, and instituting this mandate will help."
"To those who are opposed to this -- I want to make something very clear: Instituting this mask mandate today will allow us to keep our economy open and helps ensure our health care system has the capacity and workforce it needs in the coming weeks," he continued. "If you don’t wear a mask into a store and are asymptomatically spreading COVID, you risk shutting down that business for weeks, you risk unknowingly infecting someone with severe health issues or someone who works on a longterm care facility."
Everyone over 5 years old must follow the mandate.
National Zoo, Smithsonian museums to close
The National Zoo and all Smithsonian museums will close on Nov. 23 due to rising cases in the Washington, D.C., area and across the country, the Smithsonian said.
"Due to the changing nature of the situation, we are not announcing a reopening date at this time," the Smithsonian said.
The pandemic had shuttered Smithsonian museums from March 14 through mid-September. They reopened gradually with timed-entry tickets.
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.
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.