As the omicron variant spreads, new daily cases of COVID-19 have hit new highs in the United States. There were an average of 167.8 new daily cases of the virus for every 100,000 Americans over the past week, up from an average of 83.3 new daily cases per 100,000 the week before.

Nationwide, the average number of new daily infections has increased in 49 states over the past week.

In total, there have been about 56,843,000 documented cases of the novel coronavirus in the United States since the first known infection was identified in Washington state on Jan. 21, 2020.

Though the first case of the virus in the United States was on the West Coast, the early epicenter of the outbreak was on the other side of the country, in New York City. In the months since, the parts of the country hit hardest by the virus shifted to the Southeast, the Midwest, and California.

The current increase in cases nationwide is being driven disproportionately by South Carolina and Rhode Island, the two states where the average number of new daily cases is climbing the fastest on a per capita basis.

To date, North Dakota has had the highest number of COVID-19 cases per capita of any state, at 23,394 for every 100,000 people. Nationwide, there has been a total of 17,374 cases per 100,000 people.

All COVID-19 data used in this story is current as of Jan. 6, 2022. It is important to note that in some states, weekly infection rates may include cases of the virus that occurred earlier but were not previously counted.