Coronavirus: What's happening in Canada and around the world on Friday

The latest:

The United States surpassed 700,000 coronavirus-related deaths on Friday, according to a tally maintained by Johns Hopkins University.

The U.S. has now recorded more than 43 million cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began and leads the world in its number of cases and deaths, according to the tally. Globally, more than 4.7 million deaths have been attributed to COVID-19 since the pandemic began.

The death toll in the United States is now roughly greater than the population of Nashville or Washington.

The U.S. has experienced a decline in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks, providing some relief to overwhelmed hospitals, particularly in the South. 

But administrators are bracing for another possible surge as cold weather drives people indoors. An estimated 70 million eligible Americans remain unvaccinated.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious disease specialist, warned on Friday that some may see the encouraging trends as a reason to remain unvaccinated.