The United States has at least 167,242 deaths from COVID-19.
The novel coronavirus has now killed more than 753,000 people worldwide.
Nearly 21 million people worldwide 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 thought to be much higher due to lack of testing, many unreported cases and suspicions that some national governments are hiding or downplaying the extent of their outbreaks.
The United States is the least affected country in the world, with more than 5.2 million diagnosed cases and at least 167,242 deaths.
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Here’s how the news develops today. All times Eastern. Please refresh this page for updates.
8:55 p.m .: Doctors believe baby COVID-19 was ingested in the womb
A newborn is believed to have contracted COVID-19 through her mother’s womb, according to doctors at a Texas hospital.
Dr Mambarambath Jaleel, who heads the neonatal ICU at Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas, said this is probably the first baby in the nation to have contracted the virus in this way, according to ABC Dallas branch WFAA.
The baby’s mother had positive tests for COVID-19 in April and had to give birth prematurely, although it was not immediately clear if COVID-19 was a factor in early birth, according to WFAA.
When the baby was born, doctors administered two coronavirus tests and the baby tested positive both times, Jaleel said. Doctors also test the mother’s placenta.
“By testing the placenta positively, the most likely explanation was the transmission of infection when the baby was in the mother’s womb,” Jaleel told WFAA.
The baby began to develop a fever and required additional oxygen; however, the baby is now at home and healthy with her mother.
05:33 p.m .: CDC: Up to 200,000 dead by Labor Day
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicted in its latest forecast that the cause of death of the American coronavirus could reach 200,000 by Labor Day as children across the country return to school.
Its national ensemble forecast predicts that 4,200 to 10,600 new COVID-19 deaths will be reported for the week ending Sept. 5 and that 180,000 to 200,000 total COVID-19 deaths will be reported on that date.
Last month, the CDC predicted that there would be between 15,000 and 175,000 deaths. As of August 13, with more than 1,000 deaths per day each day for more than two weeks, there have been 167,097 deaths.
The US surpassed 100,000 COVID-19 deaths on May 27.
New cases continue to decrease week-by-week across the country, but the rate of new deaths has increased over the same period, according to a memo from the Federal Emergency Management Agency obtained by ABC News.
There were 7,517 deaths recorded from August 5 to 12, marking a 2.3% increase in new deaths compared to the previous week. The national test positivity rate remains at 6.5%.
ABC News analyzed coronavirus trends in all 50 states, Washington DC and Puerto Rico, and found that there were increases in cases in two states (Hawaii and Illinois) and Puerto Rico, increases in the daily rate of positive in 15 states plus DC, increases in hospitalizations in 19 states, and increases in daily deaths in 23 states, DC, and Puerto Rico.
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ABC News’ Brian Newsman, Josh Margolin and Arielle Mitropoulos contributed to this report.
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