(NEW YORK) — Here are today’s In Crisis headlines:
Biden now leads in Georgia, Pennsylvania as ballot counting continues
Democratic Former Vice President Joe Biden has taken the lead in Georgia and Pennsylvania as ballot counting continues in those battleground states in his effort to win the White House from President Donald Trump. Though Biden’s lead is narrow, it appears the majority of early and absentee ballots in both states were cast for him and Democratic VP nominee Sen. Kamala Harris, with a record 100 million-plus early and absentee ballots combined cast in this election overall. As the count continues, Biden’s lead is expected to grow.
The number of electoral votes Biden and Trump hold has remained unchanged since Thursday morning: Biden has 253 electoral votes and Trump earned 214. A total 270 electoral votes are needed to win the presidency, with Biden currently 17 short of that number. Should he win Pennsylvania, the state’s 20 electoral votes would make him the president-elect. A win in Georgia would put Biden one vote shy of victory, with ballots also still being counted in Alaska, Arizona, Nevada and North Carolina. Biden currently leads in Arizona and Nevada, which have 11 and six electoral votes, respectively, while Trump leads in Alaska and North Carolina, which have three and 15 respective electoral votes. A victory in those states is not enough to secure Trump the 56 electoral votes he needs for re-election.
Election officials in these battleground states are hesitant to declare when the ballot counts may be over, so a winner may not be known for a few more days. Nearly 160 million total votes were cast in this election, a number not seen in more than a century.
Check ABCNews.com for the latest vote counts and other election updates.
Unemployment rate falls to 6.9 percent as 638,000 jobs added in October
The American economy added 638,000 jobs in October, just slightly better than expectations, according to a Friday morning report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That lowered the unemployment rate to 6.9 percent from the previous month’s rate of 7.9%, also better than expected. Jobs were added mostly in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, retail trade, and construction. Even so, the economy still has to recover about 10 million jobs that have been lost since the pandemic-induced business closures that began in March. Also, the current surge of COVID-19 cases remains a grave threat and could negatively impact businesses anew.
COVID-19 numbers
Here’s the latest data on COVID-19 coronavirus infections and deaths.
Latest reported numbers globally per Johns Hopkins University
Global diagnosed cases: 48,813,769
Global deaths: 1,235,479. The United States has the most deaths of any single country, with 234,944.
Number of countries/regions: at least 190
Total patients recovered globally: 32,268,920
Latest reported numbers in the United States per Johns Hopkins University
There are at least 9,611,004 reported cases in 50 states + the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam. This is more than in any other country.
U.S. deaths: at least 234,944. New York State has the greatest number of reported deaths in the U.S., with 33,657.
U.S. total patients recovered: 3,781,751
U.S. total people tested: 152,507,113
The greatest number of reported COVID-19 cases in the U.S. is in Texas, with 969,490 confirmed cases out of a total state population of 39.51 million. That ranks third in the world after Maharashtra, India, which has 1,704,444 reported cases, and Sao Paulo, Brazil, which has 1,123,299 reported cases.
Another day of record COVID-19 infections reported as US approaches 10 million cases
The U.S. has now posted two consecutive days of record single-day COVID-19 infections. Data compiled by the Covid Tracking Project shows there were 116,255 reported cases on November 5; the day before, that number was just over 103,000, an increase of more than 13,000 in 24 hours. The number of people hospitalized as of Thursday morning stands at 53,322, with 1,124 coronavirus deaths reported Thursday. Friday morning, there were a total of 234,944 reported COVID-19 deaths in the U.S., according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, about 19% of the global total. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s most recent forecast estimates there will be between 250,000 to 266,000 total COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. by the week ending November 28.
The increase in reported COVID-19 cases is swiftly pushing the U.S. toward another grim milestone. With 9,611,004 reported cases as of Friday morning, America is expected to cross the threshold of 10 million total cases perhaps as soon as this weekend. The U.S. continues to report more coronavirus cases than any other country, averaging between 19% and 20% of the world’s total.
An internal memo from the Department of Health and Human Services, obtained by ABC News, further confirms the rapid increase of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. The memo reports that 43 states and territories are in an upward trajectory of new COVID-19 cases, with one jurisdiction flat and 12 declining. At least 604,451 new cases were confirmed during the period of Oct 28-Nov 3, a 20% increase from the previous seven-day period. There were 6,003 deaths recorded Oct 28-Nov 3, marking a 6.8% increase in new deaths compared with the previous week. The national test-positivity rate increased to 7.3% from 6.5% in week-to-week comparisons, while 24% of hospitals across the country report having more than 80% of their ICU beds filled. That number was 17-18% during the summertime coronavirus infection peak.
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