Omicron surge across the US pushes COVID-19 hospitalizations in the country toward a new record high.

The current seven-day daily average of COVID-19 cases in the United States is 491,700 per day — marking a 98% increase over the previous week, according to the top federal health agency.

Top US infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said there was still a danger of a surge in hospitalization due to a large number of coronavirus cases even as early data suggests the Omicron COVID-19 variant is less severe.

Only 62 percent of Americans are fully vaccinated, and the nation’s medical infrastructure is severely strained two years into the pandemic.

Iran hopes to end the fifth wave of coronavirus with flat hospitalization rates reported in 14 provinces.

The number of children hospitalized across the US with COVID-19 has hit a record high of just over 1,900 as hospitals in southern states were stretched to capacity fighting outbreaks caused by the highly transmissible Delta variant.

Michigan, which has reported 820 thousand cases and close to 18 thousand deaths from the cataclysmic virus so far, is presently in the middle of a violent surge, experts say