With the omicron variant surging, the U.S. recorded more than 1 million new COVID-19 cases Monday, by far the country’s largest single-day total of the pandemic, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. 

The 1.08 million cases nearly doubles the previous record of 590,576, just set on Dec. 29.

Monday’s whopping tally, however, includes a backlog of cases reported after a number of states paused over New Year’s Day weekend. 

Nevertheless, the seven-day average of 480,283 cases is nearly twice as high as last winter’s peak — and even that number is most likely an undercount. There were six states that did not report cases Monday because they either don’t issue daily reports or hadn’t yet resumed their disclosures following the holiday, The Wall Street Journal reported. Also, there has been high demand for at-home rapid tests, of which results are usually not reported to government health officials.

Omicron is less likely than the delta variant to result in hospitalization, studies say. But due to the sheer volume of cases, hospital beds are filling up again. The seven-day average for hospitalizations for confirmed or suspected COVID-19 as of Monday was 97,855, up 32% from a week ago, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The number of hospitalizations, however, is still below the pandemic peak of 137,510 on Jan. 10, 2021. 

The seven-day average for COVID-19 deaths has remained relatively steady in recent weeks, currently at 1,236, according to Johns Hopkins’ data. Increases in deaths generally lag weeks behind spikes in infections.

The large number of COVID-19 cases is disrupting daily life for many Americans due largely to staff shortages. That includes thousands of airline flights being canceled, some schools returning to virtual instruction and businesses delaying their return-to-office plans. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Tuesday that omicron now makes up an estimated 95% of all U.S. COVID-19 cases, up from a revised 77% the previous week.

Overall, the U.S. has recorded 56.2 million COVID cases and nearly 828,000 deaths during the pandemic.

Note: This article was updated to include the CDC's latest number for the proportion of COVID-19 cases caused by the omicron variant.