Washington, 31 December 2021 (dpa/MIA) - The number of reported coronavirus infections in the United States has reached a new high, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. The CDC recorded an average 316,000 infections every day for the past seven days. According to the CDC, this corresponds to an incidence of just under 700 per 100,000 inhabitants. During the big Covid wave last December and January, the seven-day average of infections only rose to around 250,000 per day, according to CDC data. A single-day record of almost 490,000 new coronavirus cases was reported in the U.S. on Wednesday, according to CDC data. The number of cases in the Unuited States has been rising rapidly since just before Christmas. The authorities blame the particularly contagious Omicron variant of the virus. In some parts of the country, however, infections with the Delta variant continue to play an important role. The number of people who are sick with Covid-19 in the US and need hospital treatment is significantly lower than in the summer during the Delta wave or last winter. According to the CDC, there are currently around 76,000 patients hospitalised with Covid-19. In January - when there were hardly any corona vaccinations - there were around 125,000 patients at times. The vaccination campaign in the US has recently only made sluggish progress. So far, according to CDC data, 62 per cent of the approximately 330 million people in the country are fully vaccinated. Only a third of the population also received a booster vaccination.