Coronavirus Watch: An Election Day like no other

Coronavirus cases may be surging across the U.S., but today is Election Day and millions of Americans are casting their ballots in person.

Alejandro Guzman Stein, 67, made the trip to the Miami-Dade County Auditorium with a bottle of hand sanitizer in his pocket, a mask over his nose and mouth, and a scratched-up visor covering his face. He planned to vote by mail this year but his absentee ballot never arrived. 

“This is life or death for me,” said Stein, who is immunocompromised. “I wanted to vote by mail. But I had to come. It’s more than a right. It’s a duty.”

This is the Coronavirus Watch from the Paste BN Network. Here's the latest news, as of 2 p.m. ET: 

• Over 61,000 new COVID-19 cases in children were reported this week – the highest since the pandemic began, according to a report released Monday.
• Artificial intelligence technology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology can detect virus infection in a COVID-19 patient using a voice recording of their cough, according to a report published Tuesday. 
• Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus task force coordinator, warned top officials on Monday that the country is entering the "most deadly phase of this pandemic ... leading to increasing mortality," according to a report obtained by the Washington Post.
• New records: 21 states set records for new cases in a week, according to a Paste BN analysis of Johns Hopkins data through late Monday.
• Meanwhile, five states reported a record number of deaths: Alaska, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.

Overall numbers: The U.S. has reported more than 9.3 million cases and 231,700 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The global totals: 47.3 million cases and 1.2 million deaths. Track the U.S. outbreak in your state here.

Stay safe this Election Day! Thank you for subscribing to the Coronavirus Watch.

– Rachel Aretakis, breaking news editor, @raretakis. Contributing: Alan Gomez in Miami.