Nation reports record-high daily COVID-19 case count

The United States confirmed more than 83,000 new coronavirus infections Friday, the highest total of the pandemic.

The weekly average number of new cases reported each day has risen steadily since the first week of October, from about 43,000 to more than 61,000 as of Friday, COVID Tracking Project data shows. The previous record-high weekly average was exactly a month ago, with more than 67,000.

The positivity rate in the U.S. has been on the rise since the start of October but still falls far short of the rate during the summer surge, when as much as 8.3% of tests were coming back positive.

The soonest a vaccine will be approved by the federal government is the end of this year, National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins said Friday while warning that “it might be longer.”