Coronavirus updates: 1st vaccines now on the way to all 50 US states

The COVID Tracking Project reported Wednesday that 3,054 Americans died the previous day from the coronavirus, setting a new daily record.

The seven-day average of new daily deaths (2,276) also set a record, according to the health data.

"The 7-day average for COVID-19 deaths are at an all-time high as deaths are rising throughout the country. The previous single-day record was on May 7 at 2,769 deaths," the tracking project tweeted.

Daily hospitalizations also continued to set records as 106,688 Americans are currently hospitalized, according to the data. The seven-day average of hospitalizations was 102,580, another record.

Over 209,000 new coronavirus cases were reported on Wednesday, according to the tracking project.

"[California] reported a new single-day case record at 30,851. This is the second-highest case count since 12/6," the tracking project tweeted.

COVID-19 cases and deaths continued to grow dramatically following Thanksgiving, according to an internal memo from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that was obtained by ABC News.

The country recorded 1,414,153 new cases between Dec. 3 and Dec. 9, according to HHS. This represents a 25.4% increase from the previous seven-day period, the memo said.

There were 15,588 new deaths recorded from Dec. 3 to Dec. 9, which was a 44.9% jump in new fatalities compared with the previous week, according to the memo.

Roughly 31% of U.S. hospitals have more than 80% of their intensive care unit beds filled, HHS reported.

Several states saw new records during the last seven days, according to the memo.

In Alabama, new weekly coronavirus deaths increased by 158% with 312 new fatalities recorded, according to HHS.

On Dec. 7, 19 Georgia hospital ICUs could not accept any more patients, the memo said.

-ABC News' Josh Margolin

The FDA authorized LabCorp’s Pixel COVID-19 Test Home Collection Kit Wednesday for use by patients 18 years and older without a prescription.

The test allows a customer to self-collect a nasal swab sample at home and then send that sample for testing to LabCorp. The company will phone the customer with the results.

The at-home test is currently available for purchase online and the company is taking requests from retailers to sell it in stores.

LabCorp told ABC News it will screen requests to limit it to people who meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria for testing in order to limit backlogs in their labs.

-ABC News' Stephanie Ebbs and Ali Dukakis

Los Angeles County Health Director Barbara Ferrer broke down as she revealed the latest tallies of coronavirus cases and deaths Wednesday.

There were 9,243 new cases and 75 new deaths recorded Wednesday, according to the health department. The county has seen 475,271 total cases and 8,075 total deaths during the pandemic.

"The more terrible truth is that over 8,000 people who were beloved members of their families are not coming back and their deaths are an incalculable loss to their friends and their family, as well as our community," Ferrer said while breaking down in tears.

Roughly 3,200 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 in Los Angeles, 23% of whom are in the intensive care unit and 15% on ventilators, according to the health department.

"Given that we are just now seeing the hospitalizations from the Thanksgiving holiday, we anticipate that the number will continue to grow over the next few weeks with potentially 700 new daily COVID hospitalizations in just one week from now," Dr. Christina Ghaly, director of the LA County Health Services Department, said.

-ABC News' Cammeron Parrish