Coronavirus Watch: US is approaching 8M cases

Just 18 days from the presidential election, the U.S. has more confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths than any other country. Cases are growing at a speed not seen since the summer peak. And the holidays are coming up.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, cautioned against throwing large celebrations for Thanksgiving, calling it "a risk" to gather in indoor settings with people from out-of-town. His own family, he shared, is canceling plans.

It's Friday, and this is the Coronavirus Watch from the Paste BN Network. Here's the most significant news of the day, as of 12:15 p.m. ET:

• Coronavirus cases around the world have climbed to all-time highs of more than 330,000 per day. In addition to the U.S., concern is largely focused around Europe. The regional director for the World Health Organization in Europe warns that the daily death toll on the continent could reach five times its April peak by January 2021.
• Georgia election officials said nearly a quarter of the workers in a warehouse where election supplies are kept and voting equipment is readied for Georgia’s most populous county have tested positive for COVID-19.
• Indoor sports may be "super-spreader" events: A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report found one player infected 14 others at a Florida recreational indoor hockey game.
• The effectiveness of remdesivir has been put into question after a massive World Health Organization study of more than 10,000 patients in 30 countries found "little or no effect."
• A new study conducted for the Department of Defense found that airplanes are unlikely to spread COVID-19, thanks to high air exchange rates, HEPA-filtered recirculation and downward ventilation found on modern jets.
• Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the Canada-U.S. border will stay closed until America gets control its outbreak.
• Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris canceled campaign trips through Sunday after two people associated with the campaign tested positive for COVID-19.

As the country cries out for a vaccine and a return to normal, lost in the policy debates is the reality that COVID-19 kills far more people of color than white Americans. This isn't a matter of coincidence, poor choices or bad luck — it's by design. Read more here.

Fourteen states set records for new cases in a week and two had a record number of deaths in a week, a Paste BN analysis of Johns Hopkins data through late Thursday shows. New case records were set in Alaska, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Record numbers of deaths were reported in Montana and Wisconsin.

Today's numbers: The U.S. has reported nearly 8 million cases and more than 217,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Globally, there have been more than 39 million cases and 1 million fatalities. See the numbers in your area here, and check out where cases are rising here.

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– Grace Hauck, Paste BN breaking news reporter, @grace_hauck