People tour the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the United States, Nov. 25, 2020. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)

Wednesday's COVID-19 death toll in the United States climbed to 2,284 cases, the highest since May 7. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) predicted that a total of 294,000 to 321,000 COVID-19 deaths will be reported by Dec. 19.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 26  -- Nearly 90,000 COVID-19 patients are in hospitals across the United States as of Thursday, the Thanksgiving day, reaching a new all-time high for the 16th consecutive day, according to The COVID Tracking Project.

Wednesday's death toll climbed to 2,284 cases, the highest since May 7, also the 7th highest daily death total to data.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) predicted that the number of newly reported COVID-19 deaths will likely increase over the next 4 weeks, with 10,600 to 21,400 new deaths likely to be reported in the week ending Dec. 19.

CDC's national ensemble predicted that a total of 294,000 to 321,000 COVID-19 deaths will be reported by Dec. 19.

The third wave of COVID-19 deaths in long-term care facilities has continued, as cases increased at twice the rate of the nation's total cases, according to The COVID Tracking Project.