Washington, Dec 3 (IANS): The US reported 2,713 new coronavirus fatalities in the past 24 hours, the highest single-day spike since April, which increased the country's overall death toll to 273,316, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

Besides the new fatalities, the country, currently the worst-hit by the pandemic, also reported 195,121 new cases on Wednesday, taking the total infection tally to 13,916,543, reports Xinhua news agency citing the University's latest data.

Meanwhile, the number of Covid-19 patients who currently remain in hospitals reached 100,226 on Wednesday, exceeding the threshold of 100,000 for the first time since the onset of the pandemic, according to the COVID Tracking Project.

The number is almost twice higher than that during the initial spring outbreak, while the proportion of patients admitted to hospitals is lower than in spring.

"Our hospital ICUs and emergency rooms remain stretched beyond any reasonable limit," a county health official in Wisconsin told CNN on Wednesday.

"The reality is December and January and February are going to be rough times. I actually believe they're going to be the most difficult time in the public health history of this nation," US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield said at a virtual event on Wednesday.