The US has exceeded 100,000 current COVID-19 hospitalizations for the first time

• Numbers from The COVID Tracking Project on Wednesday showed the US for the first time exceeding 100,000 current COVID-19 hospitalizations.
• California also became the first state to report more than 20,000 new cases in a single day, according to the new data.
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has urged Americans not to travel for Christmas.

The US on Wednesday set a grim record for active COVID-19 hospitalizations.

According to The COVID Tracking Project, the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 has passed 100,000 for the first time.

That number totaled 100,226 across all states, with 2,733 deaths reported as well as 195,695 new cases. California became the first state to report more than 20,000 new cases in a single day.

By The COVID Tracking Project's count, Wednesday's COVID-19 death toll was the second-highest on record; the highest total, 2,752, was recorded May 7.

The COVID Tracking Project acknowledged last week that the "early" part of this week might reflect a backlog in previously unreported cases and deaths from the Thanksgiving holiday and the weekend.

Still, US cases have been trending upward since September, and the impact of Thanksgiving gatherings on hospitalizations and deaths is likely to become clear only in the next few weeks.

On Wednesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged Americans not to travel for Christmas, while laying out new quarantining guidelines.

President-elect Joe Biden called for respecting the CDC guidelines, warning that "people aren't paying attention."