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Coronavirus Live Updates: U.S. Cases Continue Their Rapid Rise as a Complicated Holiday Season Approaches

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This is CNBC's live blog covering all the latest news on the coronavirus outbreak. This blog will be updated throughout the day as the news breaks. 

Daily new cases of the coronavirus continue to rise in the U.S., setting fresh records. More than 144,000 new infections were recorded on Wednesday. That's the highest single-day tally yet and pushes the national seven-day average to 127,603 — 35% higher than where the country was a week ago.

The following data was compiled by Johns Hopkins University:

  • Global cases: More than 52.23 million
  • Global deaths: At least 1.28 million
  • U.S. cases: More than 10.4 million
  • U.S. deaths: At least 241,808

Virus cases are growing in nearly every U.S. state, according to a CNBC analysis of Johns Hopkins data. Infections are up 5% or more on a weekly basis in at least 47 states and D.C., according to the data.

Only Louisiana, Montana and Georgia remain out of the category as of Thursday, and they may not hold out for long.

  • Louisiana paused virus reporting on Wednesday for Veterans Day, but the state had been recording nearly 800 new cases a day on average — 25% higher on a weekly basis before the temporary pause.
  • Georgia's numbers are still adjusting from a massive data dump of roughly 31,000 cases, backdated to Nov. 3. That's skewing the week-on-week trend analysis.
  • Montana appears to be the only state truly below that 5% threshold, with an average of 873 new cases each day, 2.1% higher on a weekly basis.

—Sara Salinas

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Covid-19 is making the holidays complicated this year for families across the country. Some are dabbling with a virtual-only event, while others are making plans for a more intimate gathering.

The CDC recommends requiring guests who aren't in your immediate household to wear masks, unless they are eating or drinking, and to maintain at least 6 feet of physical distance. That can be a challenge in practice. So we asked infectious disease expert Steven Pergam from Fred Hutch Cancer Research Center to weigh in on how Americans should manage holidays like Thanksgiving this year.

He recommends holding events outdoors, whenever possible, and minimizing group sizes. He also suggests eating separately if indoors, so there's no need to remove a mask. For those who are concerned about whether their relatives will get on board with strategies for mitigating risks, he suggests having these conversations now.

"If you're feeling uncomfortable about a big event with 50 people, consider framing what the holidays are about," he told us. "And that's to enjoy being together, but not necessarily in the same place."

—Christina Farr

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