A COVID testing queue in Long Beach, California, US. (AP file photo)

The United States has set a grim coronavirus record, with more than 1 million cases diagnosed in a day as the highly transmissible omicron variant is wreaking havoc across the country.

Data compiled by Johns Hopkins University revealed that a total of 1,082,549 COVID-19 cases were reported on Monday, a new record for the United States since the pandemic began about two years ago.

The staggering figure is nearly double the previous US record of 590,000 cases set just four days ago and is the largest single-day tally of any country ever reported, Bloomberg News reported.

According to Johns Hopkins University, nearly 1700 people also lost their lives in the US on Monday.

America�s top pandemic advisor Anthony Fauci has warned that the US is experiencing an almost vertical increase in cases.

"We are definitely in the middle of a very severe surge and uptick in cases," Fauci said on ABC�s "This Week," calling the soaring infection rate "really unprecedented."

The new surge is triggered by the highly contagious omicron variant.

So far, only 62 percent of Americans have been fully vaccinated.

The hospitals are overwhelmed, and the healthcare system is already strained by the Delta variant.

The US is the hardest-hit country in the world. It has already lost 850,000 people to the disease.

Meanwhile, coronavirus infections in the US Capitol have skyrocketed, with lawmakers and their staff members mostly getting affected by omicron and delta variants.

According to a memo sent to lawmakers on Monday from Capitol physician Brian Monahan, the daily infections rates will increase even more significantly in the coming weeks, The Hill reported.

Both vaccinated individuals, as well as unvaccinated individuals, are contracting COVID-19.

This comes after a record spike in COVID infections was seen in the greater Washington, DC, region, following the spread of the highly contagious omicron variant.

Omicron represents approximately 61 percent of positive tests, and the delta virus variant represents 38 percent, Monahan said.

LINK: https://www.ansarpress.com/english/25660

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