
A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now infected more than 98.7 million people worldwide and killed over 2.1 million of them, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now infected more than 98.7 million people worldwide and killed over 2.1 million of them, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced on Twitter Sunday evening that he contracted the coronavirus.
Obrador said his symptoms are mild and he is undergoing medical treatment.
"As always, I'm optimistic. We'll all get by," the 67-year-old president tweeted.
Obrador had repeatedly refused to wear a mask and resisted calls for mask mandates and other restrictions despite the growing number of cases in the country.
-ABC News' Anne Laurent and Kirit Radia
There are 110,628 people currently hospitalized in the U.S., the fewest since Dec. 14, the COVID Tracking Project reported.
Our daily update is published. States reported 1.7M tests, 143k cases, and 1,940 deaths. 110,628 people are currently hospitalized in the U.S., the fewest since December 14. pic.twitter.com/RW31vtEu5m
— The COVID Tracking Project (@COVID19Tracking) January 24, 2021
The tracking project said that hospitalizations are decreasing across the country.
"For the first time since November 3rd, no state has over 600 people per million hospitalized with COVID-19," the tracking project tweeted.
The New Zealand Health Ministry announced Sunday it recorded its first coronavirus case from within the community in three months.
New Zealand has been reporting positive cases in managed isolation, which requires anyone who travels into the country, both citizens and non-citizens, to go into a 14-day quarantine in a designated facility. There have been no cases from within the community since November.
The female patient traveled in Spain and the Netherlands late last year for work, according to officials.
"While in the Netherlands she was in contact with family members, who subsequently tested positive for COVID-19," the health ministry said in a statement.
The patient arrived in Auckland on Dec. 30 following a trip from the United Kingdom with a layover in Singapore, according to the Health Ministry. The patient stayed at a hotel during her 14-day quarantine and tested negative on Jan. 2 and Jan. 10, according to the Health Ministry.
"The person started developing mild symptoms on 15 January and these progressively got worse. The person had a test taken on Friday 22 January and self-isolated at home," the Health Ministry said in a statement.
The patient's roommate hasn't shown any symptoms so far, but has been tested and is isolating at home, according to the Health Ministry.
The Health Ministry said it is contact tracing and carrying out rapid genome sequencing to see if there's a match to one of the more transmissible variants.
-ABC News' Christine Theodorou
Chicago Public Schools announced Sunday they will postpone the in-person start for kindergarten through eighth grade teachers after the Chicago Teachers Union announced voted over the weekend to continue remote work.
Teachers were scheduled to report to in-person learning on Monday, but that was pushed back to Wednesday, according to CPS. "While we agree with our labor partners on many aspects of a smooth expansion of in-person learning, our discussions are ongoing. To ensure we reach a resolution without a disruption to student learning, we’ve agreed to push back the return of K-8 teachers, staff to Wed, 1/27," CPS said in a statement.
Kindergarten through eighth grade are slated to return to in-person learning on Feb. 1. Pre-K and special education students have been going to in-person classes since the beginning of the month.
In a statement, the union said that there was concern among members regarding the rise in COVID-19 cases and the small number of students who have opted to return to in-person learning.
Chicago Public Schools said 37% of parents surveyed intend for their kids to return, according to ABC station WLS. The union noted that the number of eligible students who can currently return to in-person is also low.
"But the fact of the matter remains this: 19% of students have returned. The district doesn’t need anywhere near all of our membership to return to meet that need," CTU said in a statement.
Some parents who wished to have their children return to class in person took up their pleas directly to the union this weekend.
"Parents should not be vilified or bullied for needing a choice to return to in-person learning," Sarah Sachen told WLS.
Just hours after California's top epidemiologist recommended pausing the use of COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna's lot 041L20A due to "possible allergic reactions" that are under investigation, Mendocino County officials discovered that the batch in question was used at a mass vaccination event in San Diego.
"The county has reviewed the lot numbers administered through our mass vaccination clinics as well as the inventory stored in our freezer. Upon further review, we are confirming that 100 doses of Mendocino County Public Health's Moderna vaccine associated with the batch the state is concerned with were used at a vaccination event at the Redwood Empire Fairgrounds on January 7th," Mendocino County vaccine coordinator Adrienne Thompson said in a statement Monday night.

According to Thompson, all 100 doses were administered at the event and comprised a separate order from the state. No adverse reactions occurred.
"County staff will be contacting all 100 individuals that received a vaccine with this lot number to alert them of the recall," Thompson said. "No other side effects have been noted from use of this vaccine."
Mendocino County's public health officer, Dr. Andrew Coren, said events such as this are not unexpected because these are new vaccines, and it should not deter the public from getting vaccinated.
"This isolated event has not increased the percentage of vaccine reactions, which continue to be about one person in 100,000," Coren said in a statement Monday night. "Getting vaccinated continues to be the best way for all of us to help move beyond this virus and return to a normal way of life."