Ovidiu Dugulan/iStockBy MORGAN WINSOR, ABC News

(NEW YORK) — A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 883,000 people worldwide.

Over 27.1 million people across the globe have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new respiratory virus, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The criteria for diagnosis — through clinical means or a lab test — has varied from country-to-country. Still, the actual numbers are believed to be much higher due to testing shortages, many unreported cases and suspicions that some national governments are hiding or downplaying the scope of their outbreaks.

Since the first cases were detected in China in December, the virus has rapidly spread to every continent except Antarctica.

The United States is the worst-affected country, with more than 6.2 million diagnosed cases and at least 188,941 deaths.

California has the most cases of any U.S. state, with more than 738,000 people diagnosed, according to Johns Hopkins data. California is followed by Texas and Florida, with over 658,000 cases and over 646,000 cases respectively.

Nearly 170 vaccine candidates for COVID-19 are being tracked by the World Health Organization, six of which are in crucial phase three trials.

Here’s how the news is developing Monday. All times Eastern:

Sep 07, 5:27 am
US reports more than 31,000 new cases

There were 31,395 new cases of COVID-19 identified in the United States on Sunday, according to a real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University.

Sunday’s tally is well below the country’s record set on July 16, when there were 77,255 new cases in a 24-hour-reporting period.

An additional 403 coronavirus-related fatalities were also recorded Sunday, the country’s lowest daily death toll since Aug. 2 and down from a peak of 2,666 new fatalities reported on April 17.

A total of 6,277,005 people in the United States have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, and at least 188,941 of them have died, according to Johns Hopkins. The cases include people from all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C. and other U.S. territories as well as repatriated citizens.

By May 20, all U.S. states had begun lifting stay-at-home orders and other restrictions put in place to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. The day-to-day increase in the country’s cases then hovered around 20,000 for a couple of weeks before shooting back up and crossing 70,000 for the first time in mid-July.

An internal memo from the Federal Emergency Management Agency obtained by ABC News last week shows the number of new COVID-19 cases in the United States has ticked upward while new deaths has decreased in week-over-week comparisons.

Sep 07, 4:35 am
NYU suspends 20-plus students for violating coronavirus restrictions

New York University said it has already suspended more than 20 students for violating its coronavirus-related health and safety rules.

“Please don’t be next,” the school warned in a post on Twitter over the weekend. “Avoid parties and bars. Wear a mask. Keep your distance.”

The private research university in New York City welcomed students back for the fall semester just last week, with both in-person and remote classes. The school has urged students to stay away from gatherings where people aren’t wearing face masks or practicing social distancing, even at off-campus private residences.

In a message sent to students on Sunday, New York University’s senior vice president for student affairs, Marc Wais, said they “have received reports and videos of large crowds of young people gathering in Washington Square Park” in Lower Manhattan the previous night, “with some people not wearing masks or distancing.”

“The expectations we have set for NYU students apply both on-campus and off-campus,” Wais said. “We are investigating the circumstances from last night and any students who have violated our expectations will be subject to disciplinary action.”

Wais has previously said that a student will likely be suspended for one academic semester if they are found to have participated in a gathering that impacts the community’s health and safety, including by violating public health guidelines. If a student is found to be the instigator of a party that impacts the community’s health and safety, they will likely be suspended for the full academic year. Other disciplinary actions may include restriction from campus, immediate removal from the residence halls and cancellation of the housing license, according to Wais.

Sep 07, 3:22 am
India overtakes Brazil as second worst-hit country

India became the second worst-hit country by the coronavirus pandemic on Monday, as its cumulative total of COVID-19 cases surpassed that of Brazil.

India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare confirmed 90,802 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, pushing the national tally to over 4.2 million. The country has been recording the highest daily caseload in the world for nearly a month.

India’s tally is now only behind the United States, which has more than 6.2 million diagnosed cases of COVID-19. Brazil has the third highest total with more than 4.1 million cases, according to a count kept by Johns Hopkins University.

The Indian health ministry also reported 1,016 coronavirus-related fatalities in the past day, bringing the nation’s death toll to 71,642. The COVID-19 death toll in the United States is more than double that in India.

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