US reaches daily high of nearly 228,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases
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WASHINGTON (NewsNation Now) — Coronavirus infections continue to spread at record levels in the United States, reaching a new daily high of nearly 228,000, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
The 227,885 cases reported Friday eclipses the previous high of more than 217,000 on Thursday.
The seven-day rolling average of COVID-19 attributable deaths in the U.S. has passed 2,000 for the first time since the spring. It reached 2,011 on Friday. Two weeks ago, the seven-day average was 1,448. There were 2,607 deaths reported in the U.S. on Friday.
For the first time, COVID-19 hospitalizations in the U.S. have exceeded 100,000 on Wednesday, according to data from The COVID Tracking Project.
With the December holidays weeks away, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease Director Dr. Anthony Fauci warned, “it’s going to happen again… We’re getting into colder weather and an even larger holiday season.”
Globally, Johns Hopkins reports more than 1.5 million people have died from the coronavirus pandemic, including more than 279,000 in the United States.
A pedestrian wears a mask while standing on train tracks during the coronavirus pandemic in San Jose, Calif., Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) 
Employees schedule COVID-19 tests and prepare test kits at Primary Health Medical Group’s clinic in Boise, Idaho, on Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2020. Troops direct people outside the urgent-care clinic revamped into a facility for coronavirus patients as infections and deaths surge in Idaho and nationwide. (AP Photo/Otto Kitsinger) 
Physician assistant Nicole Thomas conducts a COVID-19 examination in the parking lot at Primary Health Medical Group’s clinic in Boise, Idaho, Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2020. The urgent-care clinic revamped into a facility for coronavirus patients as infections and deaths surge in Idaho and nationwide. Some 1,000 people have died due to COVID-19, and infections this week surpassed 100,000. (AP Photo/Otto Kitsinger) 
FILE- In this March 31, 2020 file photo, members of the Connecticut Air and Army National Guard unload hospital supplies referred to as “hospitals in a box” at Southern Connecticut State University’s Moore Field House in New Haven, Conn. Connecticut has received approval to continue using the National Guard to support COVID-19 mitigation efforts through March, 2021. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File) 
Dr. William Sterett, right, with Vail-Summit Orthopedics talks with Sheika Gramshammer in the new Vail-Summit Orthopedics room on the opening of the new facility, in the new East Wing of Vail Health Hospital, Monday, Nov. 30, 2020, in Vail, Colo. (Chris Dillmann/Vail Daily via AP) 
FILE – In this Nov. 24, 2020, file photo, registered nurse Chrissie Burkhiser, left, hands medication to a COVID-19 patient inside the emergency room at Scotland County Hospital in Memphis, Mo. States faced a deadline on Friday, Dec. 4, 2020, to place orders for the coronavirus vaccine as many reported record infections, hospitalizations and deaths, while hospitals were pushed to the breaking point — with the worst feared yet to come. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File) 
An Indian tribal woman wearing a face mask as a precaution against the coronavirus stands in front of a hospital for a general checkup in Hyderabad, India, Saturday, Dec. 5, 2020. India is second behind the U.S. in total coronavirus cases. Its recovery rate is nearing 94%. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.) 
Indian workers paint a church ahead of Christmas in Hyderabad, India, Saturday, Dec. 5, 2020. Christians make up about 2 percent of India’s 1 billion-plus population. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.) 
Russian medical worker, right, administers a shot of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, Dec. 5, 2020. Thousands of doctors, teachers and others in high-risk groups have signed up for COVID-19 vaccinations in Moscow starting Saturday, a precursor to a sweeping Russia-wide immunization effort. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin) 
Pallbearers wearing protective suits and gloves, carry a coffin as an Orthodox priest looks on, during a funeral ceremony for a person who died of COVID-19, in the northern city of Thessaloniki, Greece, Saturday, Dec. 5, 2020. Greece is on lockdown until Dec. 7 but government officials say it is too early to say when schools and businesses will reopen due to continued pressure on the state-run health service, with intensive care wards near capacity in parts of the country. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos) 
Pallbearers wearing protective suits and gloves, carry a coffin during a funeral ceremony for a person who died of COVID-19, in the northern city of Thessaloniki, Greece, Saturday, Dec. 5, 2020. Greece is on lockdown until Dec. 7 but government officials say it is too early to say when schools and businesses will reopen due to continued pressure on the state-run health service, with intensive care wards near capacity in parts of the country. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos) 
A Russian medical worker prepares a shot of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, Dec. 5, 2020. Thousands of doctors, teachers and others in high-risk groups have signed up for COVID-19 vaccinations in Moscow starting Saturday, a precursor to a sweeping Russia-wide immunization effort. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin) 
Medical workers wearing protective gear return to their ambulance after transferring a patient suspected of having coronavirus at a hospital in Kommunarka, outside Moscow, Russia, Saturday, Dec. 5, 2020. Thousands of doctors, teachers and others in high-risk groups have signed up for a COVID-19 vaccination in Moscow starting Saturday, a precursor to a Russia-wide immunization effort. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin) 
Pastor Michael Ohlemueller is standing at the motorway service station Wonnegau near Worms, Germany, with a crosier with chocolate Santa Claus and apple in a bag, which he wants to distribute as a gift to truck drivers. The action is intended as a thank you and appreciation for the drivers’ work. ( Uwe Anspach/dpa via AP) 
A worker stands over graves during a funeral ceremony for a person who died of COVID-19, in the northern city of Thessaloniki, Greece, Saturday, Dec. 5, 2020. Greece is on lockdown until Dec. 7 but government officials say it is too early to say when schools and businesses will reopen due to continued pressure on the state-run health service, with intensive care wards near capacity in parts of the country. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)
