WASHINGTON — The United States broke a new record in daily COVID-19 cases as it reported 121,888 new coronavirus infections on Thursday, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

Thursday’s figure is by far the most since the outbreak of the pandemic. The previous high was 102,831, which was reported the day before on Wednesday. At the time it represented the first time the US saw cases surpass 100,000 in a single day.

The US also reported 1,210 deaths on Thursday, the most since Sept. 15. It represented the third consecutive day daily deaths surpassed 1,000 for the first time since Sept. 1-3.

The number of people who have died from COVID-19 in the US is now 234,944 — the most in the world.

Before this week, the previous high for single-day cases was 99,321 on Oct. 30.

Entering October, the US had never seen more than 77,000 cases in a day. That record was set on July 16. Since Oct. 23, the county has eclipsed 80,000 cases in a day nine times. Overall, the US has reported more than 9.6 million cases.

India has experienced the second-highest total with 8.4 million. By comparison, Brazil has reported 5.5 million cases — the third-highest total in the world — while Russia at 1.7 million is fourth.

Globally, the virus has killed more than 1.2 million people.