U.S. Surpasses More Than 3,000 COVID-19 Deaths Reported in a Single Day for First Time

The U.S. hit another grim pandemic milestone on Thursday, with the number of deaths reported in a single day surpassing 3,000 for the first time since the COVID-19 outbreak began in the country back in January.

The Associated Press reported that more than 3,100 deaths due to COVID-19 were reported Thursday. One day earlier, the U.S. surpassed the previous record of daily deaths reported in the spring—with 2,885 deaths from the virus confirmed on Wednesday compared to the former daily high of 2,752 on April 15.

Meanwhile, hospitalizations due to COVID-19 and infections have soared in recent weeks. The number of Americans hospitalized from the virus has passed 100,000 for the first time, and the average number of new daily cases has been above 160,000 for the past week. Public health experts expect the situation to worsen, particularly as people travel for the holidays and the colder winter weather encourages people to gather indoors.

Speaking to ABC News This Week on Sunday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, a key member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, predicted "there almost certainly is going to be an uptick because of what's happened with the travel" over Thanksgiving. During the recent holiday, the U.S. saw the highest level of airport travel since the early spring when the pandemic first began to spread rapidly.

"We may see a surge upon a surge. We don't want to frighten people, but that's just the reality," Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warned.

The U.S. continues to have the highest number of infections and deaths due to COVID-19 of any country in the world. As of Thursday afternoon, the U.S. has reported more than 14 million infections and nearly 275,000 deaths, according to The New York Times' tracker. Several states are regularly seeing triple-digit daily death tolls. Michigan reported 175 new deaths on Thursday, while Illinois confirmed 192 and Pennsylvania saw 187.

Although news of pending vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer is highly promising, with both companies vaccines expected to receive approval from the FDA in the coming weeks, they will not be widely available to the American public until sometime next spring. The initial millions of doses—which are expected to be ready in the coming weeks—will be used first to inoculate front-line health care workers.

Many public health experts have also expressed significant concern over the large percentage of Americans expressing skepticism about the vaccines. In a new survey published by Pew Research Center on Thursday, nearly 40 percent of respondents said they will probably not or definitely not get a vaccine for COVID-19. In a bid to build national confidence in the vaccines, former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton have said they're willing to get vaccinated in front of cameras. President Donald Trump's daughter and adviser Ivanka Trump also said she'd be willing to do the same.

Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment on the record COVID-19 death toll but did not immediately receive a response.