U.S. Logs Record 1 Million Virus Cases With Data Delay

The U.S. added more than 1 million people to its Covid-19 case count on Monday as the true scope of a surge in infections over the holidays began to round into view.

The highly mutated variant, combined with delayed reporting by local governments over the holidays, led to a single-day record for new cases for any country in the world. Monday’s number is almost double the previous mark of about 590,000 set just four days ago in the U.S., which itself was a doubling from the prior week. 

Using a seven-day average, which smooths out the unevenness of data across the country, cases climbed to 485,363 a day on Monday, more than doubling in the span of a week. The data is compiled by Johns Hopkins University, which relies on local governments, some of which may take more time than others to update their figures.

The highest single-day number for reported cases outside the U.S. came during India’s delta surge, when more than 414,000 people were diagnosed on May 7, 2021.