Coronavirus updates: US cases pass 7 million mark; Florida lifts restrictions; America is nowhere near herd immunity

has reported more than 7 million cases of COVID-19 as of Friday, but deaths are projected to almost double by Jan.

has reported more than 7 million cases of COVID-19 as of Friday, a milestone that comes days after leading experts projected the virus' spread was set to rapidly increase in coming months.

Researchers warned states would likely need to reenact restrictions to combat the virus' spread.

Ron DeSantis lifted all virus restrictions on restaurants and businesses, saying "We’re not closing anything going forward.".

Ralph Northam and his wife tested positive for COVID-19, his office announced Friday, the same day that President Donald Trump is scheduled to hold a rally at an airport in the state.

Globally, there have been more than 32.3 million cases and over 985,000 fatalities. A USA TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins data through late Thursday shows seven states — Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming, and also Puerto Rico —  set records for new cases in a week while North Dakota had a record number of deaths in a week.

The global death toll from the new coronavirus sits just below 1 million, but without further action to slow the spread, it will likely double before a vaccine is widely available, a World Health Organization official said Friday.

Mike Ryan, head the WHO’s health emergencies program, said that 2 million deaths was "not only imaginable, but sadly very likely" in the absence of increased testing, tracing, social distancing, mask wearing and other measures to slow the spread of the virus.

Ron DeSantis said Friday he was lifting COVID-19 restrictions on restaurants and other businesses across Florida as he pushed to reopen the state's economy.

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and her family are facing a $45 million hit from the coronavirus pandemic, partly due to a shortage of tourists, the monarch’s money-manager said Friday.

Two former operators of a nursing home in Massachusetts for veterans, where almost 80 patients died from the virus, are now facing criminal charges, the state attorney general announced Friday.

Attorney General Maura Healey said Bennett Walsh and David Clinton were indicted by a grand jury, believed to be the first such case in the United States involving nursing home employees facing criminal charges for COVID-19 deaths.

At least 76 veterans at the home died due to COVID-19 after the operators made the “most disturbing” decision to consolidate two units into one, mixing COVID-positive patients with those that had no symptoms and allowing the virus to spread, Healey said.

Ralph Northam and first lady Pamela Northam tested positive for COVID-19, his office said in a statement Friday morning.

The United States surpassed 200,000 deaths from COVID-19 on Tuesday, and by the end of the week, the country has already lost more than 3,000 more people, roughly the death toll of the Sept.

New York City could see its first new COVID-19 shutdowns in months as the city's health department said certain hot spot areas may have nonessential businesses closed if their case numbers continue to rise.

The city said it was considering closing nonessential businesses and private schools and banning gatherings of 10 or more in the areas if cases do not come down by early next week.

Fines could be issued for those refusing to wear masks, the health department said.

A Virginia health official is warning that President Donald Trump's planned rally Friday poses a "severe public health threat" as 4,000 people are expected to attend. .

Natasha Dwamena, a Department of Public Health district director, wrote a letter to the private company that leases the hangar where the rally is scheduled to take place.

Rio de Janeiro delayed its annual Carnival parade for the first time in a century due to the coronavirus, officials announced Thursday. Rio’s League of Samba Schools, LIESA, said the spread of the coronavirus has made it impossible to safely hold the traditional parades that are a cultural mainstay and, for many, a source of livelihood

More than 824,000 Americans filed for unemployment insurance for the first time last week, the Labor Department said Thursday.