The U.S. reported the highest number of new daily COVID-19 cases during the pandemic Dec. 28, a record that comes as the highly contagious delta and omicron variants continue to spread nationwide.
The nation's seven-day case average was 267,305 on Dec. 28, according to data tracked by The New York Times. This case average previously peaked at 251,232 on Jan. 11.
COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations have also been increasing since mid-November but are far below levels during last winter's surge, according to the Times.