Previous spikes in South Korea were linked to outbreaks at churches and protests. Health officials say the current wave appears to have no links to any major groups or events.

A map of confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths around the world. The respiratory disease has spread rapidly across six continents and has killed at least 1 million globally.

View NPR's maps and graphics to see where COVID-19 is hitting hardest in the U.S., which state outbreaks are growing and which are leveling off.

In Kansas City, hospitals are treating local COVID-19 patients as well as patients transferred from rural counties in Missouri and Kansas, where there's no mandate or culture for wearing masks.

Moncef Slaoui, the chief scientific adviser for Operation Warp Speed, says that some Americans could start receiving a COVID-19 vaccine by the second week of December.

On Friday alone, there were 195,000 new confirmed cases of the virus and 1,878 deaths. The U.S. has been adding 1 million cases every six days.

The COVID-19 pandemic may have doubled the demand for charity food aid in the United States. At the same time, the pandemic is drying up the pool of volunteer labor that keeps food aid running.

The International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences announced that New York's governor will be recognized Monday for his "use of television to inform and calm people around the world."

The secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development says in a Facebook post that he credits monoclonal antibody treatments with helping him recover from COVID-19.

PBS Newshour correspondent John Yang reflects on his experience participating in Moderna's coronavirus vaccine trial. "It started off with self-interest — I wanted to get the vaccine sooner," he says.

A large and isolated region of northeastern Canada entered a two-week lockdown as coronavirus cases creep up in areas, including largely Indigenous communities, with limited access to intensive care.

The medicine is one of the few to win regulatory approval as a treatment for the disease, but has fallen out of favor with the health authority.

"The Morgue Attendant will be provided maximum PPE, will be tasked with physically moving bodies, and will require the ability to lift between 100-400 lbs. with assistance," the job listing states.

Vermont and South Dakota are both among the most rural states in the U.S. One has embraced coronavirus safety measures, the other has not, and their infection and death rates are starkly different.

Only one other country — the United States — has surpassed the milestone of 9 million total cases, since the pandemic began.