The U.S. recorded nearly 122,000 new daily coronavirus cases in data released Friday, a sharp uptick over the previous day that saw the country’s first six-figure increase since the start of the pandemic.
According to Johns Hopkins University, 121,888 new confirmed cases were added to the count on Thursday, which now totals more than 9.6 million since the first case was diagnosed in the U.S. in January. On the same day, another 1,210 COVID-19 deaths were recorded. Almost 235,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 since January.
The dramatic rise in cases in recent weeks is part of the latest wave of infections sweeping through the Midwest and Northeast, where hospitalizations have also spiked. More than 53,000 people nationwide were being treated in hospitals for COVID-19 as of Thursday – a figure not seen since early August, according to the COVID Tracking Project.
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