narvikk/iStockBy MORGAN WINSOR, ABC News
(NEW YORK) — A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than one million people worldwide.
Over 37.8 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 criteria for diagnosis — through clinical means or a lab test — has varied from country-to-country. Still, 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.
Since the first cases were detected in China in December, the virus has rapidly spread to every continent except Antarctica.
The United States is the worst-affected country, with more than 7.8 million diagnosed cases and at least 215,086 deaths.
California has the most cases of any U.S. state, with more than 857,000 people diagnosed, according to Johns Hopkins data. California is followed by Texas and Florida, with over 821,000 cases and over 736,000 cases, respectively.
More than 190 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.
Here’s how the news is developing Tuesday. All times Eastern:
Oct 13, 5:51 am
Russia sees record rise in cases and deaths but ‘no reason’ for lockdown
Russia confirmed 13,868 new cases of COVID-19 and 244 deaths over the past 24 hours, setting new records for its daily tallies of both infections and fatalities.
It’s the third straight day that Russia has registered over 13,000 new cases. The country’s previous record of 13,634 new cases was set over the weekend. Meanwhile, the latest single-day death toll shatters the previous record of 232 deaths, which was set at the end of May.
The cumulative totals now stand at 1,312,310 confirmed cases and 22,727 deaths, according to Russia’s coronavirus response headquarters.
Russian authorities have said there’s no immediate plan to impose a second nationwide lockdown, even as the country’s outbreak grows after most coronavirus-related restrictions were lifted over the summer.
“In spite of the fact that we are seeing growing numbers, today in the Russian Federation we are not talking about blocking the economy, halting any activities, enterprises or any sectors of the economy because we see no reason for that today,” Anna Popova, head of Russian consumer watchdog Rospotrebnazor, told reporters Tuesday.
But officials in Moscow, the epicenter of the country’s COVID-19 outbreak, have recommended that the elderly self-isolate at home and also encouraged businesses to have at least one-third of their employees work from home. School holidays in the capital this month were extended from one to two weeks.
More than 33% of the newly confirmed cases — 4,618 — and nearly 24% of the newly reported deaths — 58 — were registered in the capital. Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin has said that this week will be “largely decisive” in the fight against the city’s outbreak.
Oct 13, 5:33 am
India records lowest daily tally of cases since August
India confirmed another 55,342 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, it’s lowest daily tally since mid-August.
An additional 706 coronavirus-related fatalities were also recorded. The country’s cumulative totals now stand at 7,175,880 confirmed cases and 109,856 deaths, according to the latest data from the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
India is only the second country in the world to surpass seven million total cases, after the United States. Since hitting a peak of 97,894 new cases registered in a single day in September, India’s average number of daily cases has steadily declined, falling to under 73,000 cases a day.
The vast country of nearly 1.4 billion people is still on track to become the pandemic’s worst-hit nation within weeks, overtaking the United States, where more than 7.8 million people have been diagnosed with COVID-19.
Oct 13, 5:08 am
Four Vatican Swiss Guards test positive for COVID-19
Four members of the Vatican Swiss Guard have tested positive for COVID-19, according to Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni.
The test results came in over the weekend and the four guards, who are showing symptoms, were placed in isolation.
“During these hours, the necessary checks are being carried out among those who may have been in direct contact with them,” Bruni told reporters Monday. “In the meantime, in accordance with the provisions issued last week by the Governorate of Vatican City State, all the guards, whether on duty or not, wear masks, both outdoors and indoors, and observe the prescribed health measures.”
They are believed to be the first to test positive for the virus among the Vatican Swiss Guard, the elite, colorfully-dressed corps that protects the pope. It’s unknown what direct contact — if any — the infected guards had with Pope Francis, who doesn’t wear a mask at his general audiences or when meeting with worshippers, sometimes coming into relatively close contact to mingle and shake hands.
The COVID-19 infections among the four guards are in addition to three other positive cases discovered in recent weeks among residents and citizens of Vatican City, the tiny city-state surrounded by Rome that is home to the pontiff and serves as the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church. All cases have mild symptoms and the necessary measures of isolation and contact tracing have been taken, according to Bruni.
Oct 13, 4:31 am
US reports more than 41,000 new cases
There were 41,653 new cases of COVID-19 identified in the United States on Monday, according to a real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University.
The latest daily tally is down by less than 3,000 from the previous day and falls well under the country’s record set on July 16, when there were 77,255 new cases in a 24-hour-reporting period.
An additional 317 coronavirus-related fatalities were also recorded Sunday, down from a peak of 2,666 new fatalities reported on April 17.
A total of 7,804,336 people in the United States have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, and at least 215,086 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.
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 70,000 for the first time in mid-July. The daily tally of new cases has gradually come down since then but has started to climb again in recent weeks.
Week-over-week comparisons show the number of new cases reported across the nation continues to go up, as does the usage of intensive care units, but the number of new deaths are down, according to an internal memo from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that was obtained by ABC News last week.
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