U.S. hits record daily COVID-19 deaths, hospitalizations

NEW YORK — The U.S. has reached daily coronavirus records with more than 3,100 deaths and 100,000 hospitalizations.

New cases have topped 200,000 a day, according to figures released Thursday.

The three benchmarks show a country slipping deeper into crisis, with perhaps the worst yet to come. Millions of Americans disregarded warnings to stay home over Thanksgiving and celebrate only with members of their household.

The U.S. recorded 3,157 deaths on Wednesday, according to the tally kept by Johns Hopkins University. That’s more than the number of people killed on 9-11.

It shattered the old mark of 2,603, set on April 15, when the New York metropolitan area was the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak.

The number of people hospitalized doubled in the past month and confirmed daily cases climbed over 200,000 for the second time in less than a week. That’s left health care workers short-handed and burned out.

The U.S. leads the world with nearly 14 million confirmed cases and more than 273,000 deaths.