Coronavirus Watch: Global deaths reach 2 million

Global deaths from the coronavirus reached 2 million on Friday.

It took eight months to reach 1 million deaths from COVID-19 and just under four months to reach the second million, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

This is Friday's Coronavirus Watch from the Paste BN Network. Here's the latest news, as of 3 p.m. ET:

• President-elect Joe Biden is scheduled to share more details Friday afternoon on his $1.9 trillion spending package that aims to speed distribution of coronavirus vaccines and provide pandemic-related economic relief. The package proposal includes $1,400 stimulus checks.
• The highly transmissible variant of the coronavirus that’s wreaking havoc in the United Kingdom could become predominant in the United States by March, the CDC warned. 
• Meanwhile, we're keeping tack of vaccine distribution in the U.S. by state. And more retailers, like Trader Joe's and Dollar General, have announced they'll pay workers to get the vaccine.

Today's numbers: The U.S. has more than 23.4 million confirmed coronavirus cases and more than 390,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The global totals: More than 93.5 million cases and 2 million deaths.

I know this is a lot. Here's how to do a mental health check and make sure you're taking care of yourself, from Paste BN's Alia Dastagir.

Thank you for subscribing to the Coronavirus Watch. We appreciate you trusting the Paste BN Network with this important information.

– Rachel Aretakis, breaking news editor, @raretakis