The number of new coronavirus cases recorded in a single day in the United States topped 100,000 for the firsttime Wednesday, setting a new high in the months-long pandemic, NBC News data shows.
According to the data, there were 104,429 new cases, replacing the previous single-day record set last week of 98,583 new cases.
More than 235,000 people across the United States have died from the virus this year, the most in the world.
Wednesday’s data comes as hospitalizations surge across the Midwest and Southwest. Missouri, Oklahoma, Indiana, Nebraska, North Dakota and New Mexico all reported record-high hospitalizations, according to the Associated Press.
Hospital officials in Iowa and Missouri also warned that their capacity could soon be overwhelmed.
“The infection rate is definitely a leading indicator for hospitalizations, and the hospitalization rate is a leading indicator of mortality,” Susan Gunasekaran, CEO of University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, told the AP.
Data from the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center also shows that states like Illinois, Florida, New York and Kentucky have seen two consecutive weeks of rising cases.
The state with the highest positivity rate in the country was South Dakota, where nearly 51 percent of everyone tested returns a positive result, according to the data.