This Week in Coronavirus: November 6 to November 12

Here's our look back at the past week in the coronavirus pandemic of tracking, policy analysis, polls, and journalism.

This week, the US recorded the two highest daily totals for new cases since the pandemic began, adding over 662,000 cases and about 6,300 deaths.

With coronavirus cases rising in every state except Hawaii this week, there is promising news about a potentially very effective vaccine. However, the upswing in US cases gives cause for concern that our health system is again overloaded.

A KFF analysis examines the composition of health care workers and how the risks and effects of the pandemic on these workers differ depending on their race / ethnic group. While people of color make up only 40% of healthcare workers, they account for the majority of COVID-19 cases and deaths in this group, based on the data available.

Here are the latest coronavirus stats from KFF's tracking resources:

Global Cases and Deaths: The total number of cases worldwide hit 52.7 million this week – with an increase of approximately 4 million newly confirmed cases in the past seven days. There have been over 59,000 new confirmed deaths worldwide and the total number of confirmed deaths stands at 1.3 million.

U.S. Cases and Deaths: The total number of confirmed cases in the U.S. topped 10.5 million this week. There was an increase of nearly 1 million confirmed cases between November 5 and November 12. Approximately 7,000 confirmed deaths last week brought the total in the United States to 242,400.

Race / ethnicity data: Black people accounted for a higher proportion of cases / deaths than the population in 37 out of 50 states that reported cases and 32 out of 48 states that reported deaths. In 6 states (ME, VT, NH, MN, RI, MI) the proportion of COVID-19 deaths among blacks was at least twice that of the total population. Hispanic people accounted for a higher proportion of cases than the total population in 43 out of 46 states that reported cases. In 4 states (OR, NC, PA, and NH), the Hispanic population accounted for more than three times their proportion of the population. COVID-19 continues to have a strong, disproportionate impact on Native American / Alaskan people, as well as on Asians in some states.

State social distancing measures (including Washington D.C.) that went into effect this week:

Extensions: CO, CT, MN, MS, NM, RI, SC, UT, VT

New restrictions: IL, IA, MD, MN, NE, NY, NC, OR, UT, VT

Rollbacks: HI, MA

Extended face mask requirement: UT

The newest KFF COVID-19 resources:

The newest KHN COVID-19 stories:

Five Important Questions About Pfizer's COVID-19 Vaccine (KHN, New York Times)
KHN and Associated Press Investigate Inadequate Public Health Infrastructure in US During Pandemic with American Association for the Advancement of Science's Top Journalism Award (press release)
While the nation waits for the vaccine, Biden is under pressure to appoint the new FDA chief as soon as possible (KHN, Daily Beast).
Orange County Fights Health Justice – and Fights State Restrictions (KHN, San Francisco Chronicle)
Lost at the Front: Explore the Database (KHN, The Guardian)
Nursing homes are still waiting dangerously long for COVID test results (KHN, CNN)
Workers Lost Their Jobs Due To COVID May Need Help With Reporting This Fall (KHN, Fortune)
Time to discuss potentially nasty side effects from COVID shots? Scientists say yes. (KHN, NBC News)
"Breakthrough Finding" Reveals Why Certain COVID Patients Die (KHN, NBC News)
Blood clots, strokes, and rashes: is COVID a blood vessel disease? (KHN, NPR)
Prayers and bereavement counseling after COVID: Trying to support healing in long-term care (KHN, CNN)
When false information goes viral, COVID-19 patient groups (KHN, NPR) fight back
Stanford vs. Harvard: Two Famous Biz Schools Contradict Tactics On COVID (KHN, TIME)