US hit by deadliest week since start of COVID-19 crisis

The United States saw its deadliest week since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic — with a 44 percent rise in fatalities compared to the week prior, according to new data. 

A total of 15,966 Americans died from the coronavirus in the seven-day period between Dec. 3 and Dec. 9, according to data compiled by the COVID Tracking Project, which has been releasing a weekly analysis since March 12.

The grim statistic comes after the US saw its highest number of deaths in a single day Wednesday, with 3,088 fatalities.

It was the first time deaths topped 3,000 in a 24-hour period. The previous single-day record was set on May 7 — with 2,769 deaths, the data shows.

The US also broke a weekly record in new cases, recording a total of 1.4 million new infections in the seven-day period between Dec. 3 and Dec. 9 — a 27 percent rise on the previous week.

More than 106,000 people are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 nationwide, according to the data.

As of Friday, the US has the 11th-highest number of total COVID-19 deaths per capita — or a rate of about 886 fatalities per 1 million people, according to Statista.

Those numbers put the US below Belgium, Peru and Italy — which round out the top three countries with the highest numbers of deaths per 1 million in population.

The UK also has a higher number of deaths per capita, with a rate of about 942 deaths per 1 million people.