Coronavirus updates: State reports over 49,000 new cases, 468 new deaths

There were a record 3,865 new deaths from COVID-19 registered in the United States on Wednesday, marking the deadliest day since the start of the pandemic, according to a real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University.

It's the second straight day that the country has logged a record number of fatalities from the disease within a 24-hour reporting period. Wednesday's count tops the previous day's peak of 3,775 deaths, Johns Hopkins data shows.

Meanwhile, 253,145 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed nationwide on Wednesday, marking the second consecutive day that the country has reported more than 200,000 newly confirmed infections. Wednesday's tally is less than the all-time high of 297,491 new cases, which the country logged the previous day, according to Johns Hopkins data.

COVID-19 data may be skewed due to possible lags in reporting over the holidays followed by a potentially very large backlog.

A total of 21,305,026 people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, and at least 361,279 of them have died, according to Johns Hopkins data. 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 over the summer.

The numbers lingered around 40,000 to 50,000 from mid-August through early October before surging again to record levels, crossing 100,000 for the first time on Nov. 4 and reaching 200,000 for the first time on Nov. 27.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's latest ensemble forecast projects a total of up to 438,000 deaths from COVID-19 could be reported nationwide by Jan. 30. 

At least 361,072 deaths from the disease have been reported since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. 

The CDC predicts that 12,900 to 24,900 new deaths will likely be reported in the last week of the month.

Hard Rock Stadium in Miami is opening as Florida’s first state-operated drive-thru vaccination site for front-line health care workers and people ages 65 and older.

First doses were administered in a “soft launch” on Wednesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis said. The site will fully open on Friday.

“Once fully operational, the site will offer 1,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine per day free of charge," the governor's office said.

The stadium will also continue to provide COVID-19 testing.

Hard-hit Los Angeles is enduring a new coronavirus infection every six seconds and a new death every 10 minutes, Mayor Eric Garcetti said Wednesday.

The mayor spoke at one of four new vaccination sites opening on Wednesday for health care workers who cannot get vaccinations through employers.

Overall, the city of Los Angeles will be administering over 2,000 vaccinations every day, he said.

 ABC News' Abigail Shalawylo contributed to this report.