In the grips of a third wave of the pandemic, the US has seen far more cases and deaths than any other nation, with more than 237,700 COVID-related fatalities in a population of about 330 million.

The grim milestone comes just 10 days after US cases eclipsed the 9-million mark.

Hospitalisations, deaths and infection rates are rising – with more than 100,000 new daily virus cases reported on average over the past week. Caseloads have been on the rise again since September.

The most infections ever recorded in 24 hours was on Saturday, with over 128,000.

The country saw fatalities top 1000 for several days last week.

The surge is widespread across the US and particularly severe in Minnesota, Illinois and other northern states.

In New York City, which gained control of its infection rate after being the national epicentre of the outbreak in the spring, Mayor Bill de Blasio urged residents to prevent a “dangerously close” second wave and potential ensuing lockdown measures.

“We have to do everything in our power to stop coronavirus from reasserting in New York City,” he told a press conference, calling on people to wear face masks and maintain social distancing.

Health experts are worried that with colder weather and people spending more time indoors, the virus will spread more rapidly, and authorities are cracking down with new mitigation efforts.

President-elect Joe Biden on Monday warned of a “very dark winter” ahead and announced a task force to respond to the pandemic. He also implored the public to wear face masks.

Biden routinely slammed President Donald Trump for hishandling of the crisis, as Trump falsely claimed the country was “rounding the turn” despite evidence of a third wave raging across the nation.

In a milestone in the search for a defence against the outbreak, US pharma giant Pfizer and German firm BioNTech have announced their experimental vaccine is 90 per cent effective in preventing COVID-19.

More than 50.7 million coronavirus cases have been recorded worldwide and over 1.2 million people have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.

After the US, India and Brazil have the highest number of confirmed infections, at 8.5 million and 5.6 million, respectively.

-AAP