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COVID-19 updates: US sees 1st day since early November with fewer than 100,000 new cases

PHOTO: Inside the hot zone medical staff monitor and treat sick patients infected with the Covid-19 virus at the UMASS Memorial DCU Center Field Hospital in Worcester, Massachusetts on January 13, 2021.
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Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images
Tracking the virus: 1 year of life with COVID-19
By Morgan Winsor, Erin Schumaker, Ivan Pereira, Emily Shapiro, Julia Jacobo
Last Updated: February 8, 2021, 1:33 AM

A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now infected more than 105 million people worldwide and killed over 2.3 million of them, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

Latest headlines:

  • 9% of Americans have received 1 or more vaccine doses
  • China approves Sinovac Biotech COVID-19 vaccine for general public use
  • Delta to offer vaccines to Atlanta workers
  • Global vaccinations surpass COVID-19 infections: WHO
Here's how the news developed this week. All times Eastern.

Feb 08, 2021 1:33 AM

US sees 1st day since November with fewer than 100,000 new cases

There were 96,003 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported in the United States on Sunday, marking the first day the country has seen under 100,000 new cases since Nov. 2, according to data compiled by The COVID Tracking Project, a volunteer-run effort to track the U.S. outbreak.

Meanwhile, the data shows the nationwide number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals continues to decrease. There are currently 81,439 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in the U.S., the lowest number since Nov. 19.

An additional 1,474 deaths from COVID-19 were also reported nationwide on Sunday, according to The COVID Tracking Project.

However, the data is missing updates from a handful of states, some of which regularly do not report on the weekend and some of which are having technical difficulties.

According to The COVID Tracking Project, 41 states and Washington, D.C., have seen a decline in the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases, while the rate in nine states is staying relatively the same.

Our daily update is published. States reported 1.5M tests, 96k cases, 81,439 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19, and 1,471 deaths. pic.twitter.com/4Y0v3YEcVS

— The COVID Tracking Project (@COVID19Tracking) February 8, 2021

Since the pandemic began, the U.S. has reported 26,996,534 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 463,339 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

ABC News’ Celia Darrough and Darren Reynolds contributed to this report.


Feb 07, 2021 8:16 PM

Chicago, San Francisco school districts strike tentative deals with teachers unions over in-person learning

The battles over in-person learning between teachers and the school districts in Chicago and San Francisco may temporarily be over.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced in a press conference Sunday that "at long last" a tentative agreement has been reached. Students will return to the classroom in stages, with pre-K students starting on Feb. 11, kindergarten through fifth grades on March 1 and sixth through eighth grades on March 8.

It is unclear when high school students will be slated to return to in-person learning. Public schools in Chicago had been fully remote since the pandemic began last spring.

In San Francisco, teachers unions have agreed to return to in-person learning when the city progresses to the red tier, California’s second-least most restrictive level. The city is currently in the purple tier, the state's most restrictive mode in the reopening plan.

ABC News’ Meredith Deliso, Joshua Hoyos and Matthew Fuhrman contributed to this report.


Feb 07, 2021 5:45 PM

Reported cases down 50% in US, but ICU occupancy remains high in several states, report finds

The number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths are continuing to decline nationwide, according to a new report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

There has been a four-week downward trend of reported COVID-19 cases – resulting in a 50% decline since the peak on Jan. 8.

However, the rates of adult occupancy in intensive care units remain high in several states, the report found.

So far, 39,037,964 vaccine doses have been administered, with 9% of the population (30.3 million people) having received one or more doses and 3% of the population (8.3 million people) having received two doses.

Since President Joe Biden was sworn in on Jan. 20, 22,512,683 doses have been administered toward his 100 million goal.

ABC News’ Josh Margolin and Arielle Mitropoulos contributed to this report.



Feb 07, 2021 5:09 PM

Cases of UK variant could be doubling every 10 days in the US, study finds

Cases of the more contagious U.K. variant of the COVID-19 virus is spreading rapidly through the U.S., as much as doubling every 10 days, a new study suggests.

The study has not peer reviewed, so it has not been scrutinized for inaccuracies or context by specialists.

It is still not known whether the U.K. variant is more virulent or deadly, but it is more transmissible. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned last month that the U.K. variant could become predominant in the U.S. by March if spread the way it did in the U.K.

Vaccines don’t seem to be strongly impacted by the U.K. variant, but scientists are concerned about the efficacy of the vaccines against the South African variant.

-ABC News’ Eric Strauss


Feb 05, 2021 10:36 PM

Delta to offer vaccines to Atlanta workers

Delta will offer vaccinations to Georgia employees who are 65 and older starting on Monday, a company spokesperson confirmed to ABC News.

A health care provider will administer the vaccines in a section of the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (Concourse C) and space at the Delta Flight Museum from Feb. 8 to Feb. 14. Delta's headquarters are located in Atlanta.

PHOTO: A passenger wears a face mask as she waits in a socially-distance area for a Delta Airlines flight, Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021, at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta.
Charlie Riedel/AP
A passenger wears a face mask as she waits in a socially-distance area for a Delta Airlines flight, Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021, at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta.
Charlie Riedel/AP

Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in a memo last week that 690 Delta employees had received at least one vaccination shot.

"We continue to work with federal and state authorities to prioritize immunizations for frontline Delta people," Bastian wrote in the memo. "While healthcare workers and our most vulnerable are already getting their shots, I strongly encourage each of you to get vaccinated when your time comes."

ABC News' Mina Kaji contributed to this report.


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