Coronavirus Watch: CDC warns of 'concerning' uptick in cases

After six straight weeks of declines in new COVID-19 infections across the U.S., health officials warned Friday about a "concerning" uptick in cases over the most recent days.

The newest seven-day average of daily new cases was over 66,000 and higher than the average on Wednesday, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rachel Walensky said. The peak in early January was the highest seen in the pandemic, and though current averages are lower, they're still high, Walensky said.

"Things are tenuous. Now is not the time to relax restrictions," she said, pointing to the spread of new variants of the coronavirus. "We may now be seeing the beginning effects of these variants in the most recent data."

It's Friday, and this is the Coronavirus Watch from the Paste BN Network. Here's more news you need to know:

• A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee is holding an all-day meeting meeting Friday to review the data on Johnson & Johnson's candidate vaccine and is likely to give the vaccine a thumbs-up. The vaccine was shown to be 72% effective in a U.S. trial in which all ethnic, racial and age groups benefited about the same, and was shown to be 85% effective in preventing the most severe disease.
• The FDA will allow Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to be shipped and stored at freezers commonly found in pharmacies rather than the ultra-frigid ones initially required after data from the company showed the vaccine remains stable for up to two weeks in standard freezer temperatures. Thursday's decision will make it easier to distribute and administer the vaccine.
• President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion plan to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, including $1,400 personal checks, is likely to get closer to becoming law Friday – but it's about to get a rude welcome in the divided Senate, where lawmakers are sparring over major aspects of the legislation. A Senate official ruled Thursday that a $15 federal minimum wage provision cannot be added into the package. 
• Canada on Friday authorized AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine in people 18 and over. The country has already authorized the vaccines by Pfizer and Moderna.
• Ivory Coast has become the second country in the world to receive a shipment of COVID-19 vaccines from the global COVAX initiative. The first shipment was sent to Ghana on Wednesday.
• Two U.S. Navy warships in the Middle East were returning to port in Bahrain as they've been hit with COVID-19 outbreaks, officials said Friday.

Today's numbers: The U.S. has reported more than 28.4 million COVID-19 cases and 508,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide, there have been more than 113.1 million cases and more than 2.5 million deaths. More than 13.9% of people in the U.S. have received at least one vaccine shot, and 6% of people have received both doses, according to the CDC.

See the numbers in your area here, check out where cases are rising here, and see how many vaccines your state has received here.

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