Coronavirus updates: Los Angeles to prohibit gatherings, close playgrounds

There were 172,935 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in the United States on Tuesday, according to a real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University.

It's the 22nd straight day that the country has reported over 100,000 newly diagnosed infections. Tuesday's count is down from a peak of 196,004 new cases on Nov. 20.

An additional 2,146 fatalities from COVID-19 were also registered nationwide on Tuesday, the country's highest single-day death toll from the disease since May 6 but just under the all-time high of 2,609 new deaths on April 15.

A total of 12,597,330 people in the United States have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, and at least 259,962 of them have died, according to Johns Hopkins. The cases include people from all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C. and other U.S. territories as well as repatriated citizens.

Much of the country was under lockdown by the end of March as the first wave of pandemic hit. By May 20, all U.S. states had begun lifting stay-at-home orders and other restrictions put in place to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. The day-to-day increase in the country's cases then hovered around 20,000 for a couple of weeks before shooting back up and crossing 100,000 for the first time on Nov. 4.

There were 10,784 deaths recorded from Nov. 17 to 23, marking a 26.9% increase in new deaths compared with the previous week, according to an internal Health and Human Services memo obtained by ABC News Tuesday night.

New cases increased 12.2% during that time, and the national test-positivity rate dropped to 10.3% from 10.8%, the memo said.

Across the country, 27% of hospitals have more than 80% of their intensive care unit beds filled.

Maine, Pennsylvania and Texas saw unprecedented increases in COVID-19 cases, and hospitalizations in Pennsylvania surpassed their April peak, the memo noted.

ABC News' Josh Margolin contributed to this report

The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 set a new record for the 15th consecutive day on Tuesday, according to The COVID Tracking Project.

There were 88,080 people currently hospitalized, based on the tracker. The record-setting run began on Nov. 10 with 62,062 hospitalizations.

Hospitalizations are increasing "at an extremely fast rate" in Pennsylvania and Ohio, the tracker said.

The U.S. also saw more than 2,000 new COVID-19 deaths for the first time since early May, COVID Tracking Project data shows, with states reporting 2,028 fatalities on Tuesday.

The University of Minnesota has paused its football program and canceled Saturday's game against Wisconsin due to a "sudden increase" in COVID-19 cases, officials said.

Nine student-athletes and six staff members have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last five days, officials said Tuesday. The program is also awaiting confirmation of additional presumptive positive tests.

The numbers marked a "sudden increase in positive cases," Dr. Brad Nelson, the department's medical director, said in a statement. The pause "will allow the team to focus on stopping the spread of the virus," he said.

The cancellation marks the first time Minnesota and Wisconsin won't play in 113 consecutive years, ending the longest uninterrupted series in Football Bowl Subdivision history, according to ESPN. 

Saturday's game at Wisconsin will not be rescheduled, per Big Ten policy, and will be ruled a no contest.

Minnesota officials said they hope to be healthy enough to play Northwestern on Dec. 5.