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On Sunday, the seven-day national average of new daily cases surpassed 214,000, an 83 percent jump over the past 14 days. Deaths also increased by 3 percent to a seven-day average of 1,328, according to a New York Times database. Holiday interruptions to data reporting may have affected those daily case totals.

The national record for average daily cases is 251,232, set in January during a post-holiday surge.

Hospitalizations are up, too, although not as much as cases. Nearly 72,000 Americans are hospitalized with Covid-19, an 8 percent increase over two weeks but still just over half of peak levels.

From Dec. 5, there has been a fourfold increase of Covid hospital admissions among children in New York City, where the new variant is spreading rapidly, the New York State Department of Health said in an advisory. About half were under 5, and not eligible for vaccination.

Elective surgeries were put on pause at many hospitals after New York’s governor, Kathy Hochul, declared a state of emergency this month.

Government data show that vaccination is still a strong protector against severe illness from Omicron.

Still, only 62 percent of Americans are fully vaccinated, and the nation’s medical infrastructure is dangerously frayed two years into the pandemic as hospitals contend with staff shortages fueled by burnout and early retirements. Speaking on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the government’s top infectious-disease expert, said: “When you have such a high volume of new infections, it might override a real diminution in severity.”