US COVID deaths exceed 3,000 in 24 hours

The United States on Wednesday registered more than 3,000 deaths from COVID-19 in 24 hours, according to the Johns Hopkins University tally – the highest daily toll since April.

A patient is wheeled across a bridge connecting buildings inside Mount Sinai Hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic in Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S., Dec. 3, 2020.

American authorities warned a spike in deaths was coming after millions traveled around the country for the Thanksgiving holiday last month, ignoring pleas to stay home to slow the spread of the virus.

Teresa Nguyen, a respiratory therapist, treats a patient inside a room for people with COVID-19 at a hospital in Hutchinson, Kansas, U.S., Nov. 20, 2020.

As of 8:30 p.m. Wednesday (12:30 a.m. GMT Thursday), the country had recorded a total of 289,188 COVID deaths, up by 3,071 in 24 hours. It also registered nearly 220,481 new cases.

Florence Bolton, 85, a COVID-19 patient, lies in her intensive care bed as family members attempt to FaceTime her at Roseland Community Hospital on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, U.S., Dec. 1, 2020.

California, where some 33 million people were back under lockdown this week, saw more than 30,000 cases on Wednesday – the highest 24-hour tally in a U.S. state, according to the COVID Tracking Project.

Sailors treat a patient aboard the hospital ship USNS Mercy, which was deployed to serve as a referral hospital for non-coronavirus patients currently admitted to shore-based hospitals, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., March 29, 2020.

The number of virus patients hospitalized in the U.S. continues to break records, hitting 106,000 on Wednesday.

Ventilator tubes are attached to a COVID-19 patient at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in the Mission Hills section of Los Angeles, California, U.S., Nov. 19, 2020.

Over the past two weeks, the U.S. has exceeded 2,000 COVID-related deaths per day several times, rivaling tolls the worst-hit nation in the world saw in the early days of the pandemic.

Registered nurse Chrissie Burkhiser (L) hands medication to a COVID-19 patient inside the emergency room at Scotland County Hospital in Memphis, Missouri, U.S., Nov. 24, 2020.

Faced with massive and uncontrolled spread of the virus, American authorities have put their hopes in halting its spread on a vaccine.

Medical staff move bodies from the Wyckoff Heights Medical Center to a refrigerated truck in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, April 2, 2020.

U.S. experts meet Thursday to examine Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine, which could be given emergency authorization in the coming days.

El Paso County detention inmates, also known as "trustees" (low-level inmates), sheriff officers and morgue staff help move bodies to refrigerated trailers deployed during a surge of COVID-19 deaths, outside the Medical Examiner's Office in El Paso, Texas, U.S. Nov. 14, 2020.

Some 15 million people have contracted COVID-19 in the U.S. since the start of the pandemic.

Anti-mask demonstrators converge on the Central District health offices in Boise, Idaho, to protest a meeting deciding on more mandates to combat the spread of COVID-19, Dec. 8, 2020.

Children look at their school ground as they wait for class on the first day of school reopening in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, New York, U.S., Dec. 7, 2020.

Margot Bloch stands beside a line of mock body bags while holding flowers during a funeral procession demonstration for victims of COVID-19 outside of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 20, 2020.