A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 741,000 people worldwide.
More than 20 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.
Since the first cases were discovered in China in December, the United States has been the least affected country, with more than 5 million diagnosed cases and at least 164,537 deaths.
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Here’s how the news develops today. All times Eastern. Please refresh this page for updates.
5:20 p.m .: 2 men face prosecutors for suspected hosting of house party in Nashville
Two men are facing criminal charges for violating public health emergency orders by throwing a large party at their home in Nashville earlier this month.
The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department has issued arrest warrants for Christopher Eubank, 40, and Jeffrey Mathews, 36, both of whom were reported to be out of state Tuesday night and were told to surrender upon returning to Nashville. Eubank and Mathews are each accused of three separate counts – all crimes – of breaching health care orders by hosting a meeting of more than 25 people, not requiring social distance and not needing face cover.
Police said hundreds of people attended a party on Aug. 1 at the property owned by Eubank and Mathews, located on Fern Avenue in the Tennessee capital. Patrol officers responded to the house late at night and eventually ordered the party to stop.
Phones recording, obtained by branch Nashville ABC WKRN, shows nearly large crowds of people at the party without wearing masks and not maintaining social distance.
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04:39 p.m .: Nearly one-third of Kentucky’s new cases among teens
Nearly one-third of the new COVID-19 cases in Kentucky at the end of July were under those 19 years or younger, according to an internal memo from the Federal Emergency Management Agency received by ABC News Tuesday night.
In Mississippi, Black residents represented 58.5% of the state’s new cases between July 5 and August 1 – a difference of 37.2% between cases and race census distribution, according to the FEMA memo.
Meanwhile, the test positivity rate last week was greater than 10% in Arkansas, where 5,593 additional cases were reported and two counties emerged as new hotspots. Logan County reported 90 new cases last week, an increase of 428% and a test positivity rate of 17.59%. Poinsett County reported 74 new cases, an increase of 189% and a test positivity rate of 15.43%, according to the FEMA memo.
However, the national test positivity rate continues to decline. In the past seven days, the rate was 6.6% – down from 7.9% from the previous week. The nation also saw a 12.7% decline in new cases, as well as a 4.3% decrease in new deaths confirmed last week, compared to the previous seven-day period, according to the FEMA memo.
The memo shows that only five states and territories are in an upward trajectory of new cases, while two states are on a plateau and 49 states are going down.
3:45 p.m .: US registers more than 1,000 new deaths from COVID-19
There were 46,808 new cases of COVID-19 identified in the United States on Tuesday, according to a count preserved by Johns Hopkins University.
An additional 1,082 coronavirus-related deaths were also reported – more than double the amount of the previous day.
Yet it is the third consecutive day that the nation has recorded less than 50,000 new cases. Tuesday’s caseload is also well below the record set on July 16, when more than 77,000 new cases were identified in a 24-hour reporting period.
A total of 5,141,208 people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, and at least 164,537 of them have died, according to Johns Hopkins. The cases involve people from all 50 U.S. states, Washington, DC and other U.S. territories, as well as repatriated citizens.
By May 20, all U.S. states had begun lifting orders for residence and home and other restrictions in place to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. The daily increase in the country’s cases then hid around 20,000 for a few weeks before being rescued and crossing 70,000 for the first time in mid-July.
Many states have seen a rise in infections in recent weeks, with some – including Arizona, California and Florida – reporting daily records. However, the national number of new cases and deaths in the past week have both decreased compared to week-over-week, according to an internal memo from the Federal Emergency Management Agency received by ABC News Tuesday night.
ABC News’ Ahmad Hemingway and Josh Margolin contributed to this report.
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