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(CNN)Inoculations are happening, but more than 3,500 new Covid deaths were reported in the US on Wednesday, a single-day record.

Americans still very much in danger certainly are not getting cues or public leadership from President Donald Trump, who judging by his Twitter feed remains focused almost exclusively on his election loss rather than on the deaths occurring on his watch -- or the tortured effort on Capitol Hill to give aid to Americans hurt by the pandemic.

Read this passage from CNN's wrap of Covid news:

But as vaccinations begin, recorded cases, hospitalizations and deaths are rising to levels not previously seen, as hospital staff around the country warn they're running out of space and energy to provide sufficient care:

• Average cases: The country's average number of daily cases across a week was 215,729 on Wednesday -- a record high, Johns Hopkins University data show. That's more than three times what the daily case average was during a summer peak in July.
  
• Cases in one day: The US recorded 247,403 cases on Wednesday, a record for one day.
  
• Deaths: The nation averaged 2,569 deaths daily across the last week -- the highest average yet. The total reported Wednesday -- 3,656 -- is a one-day high.
  
• Hospitalizations: 113,090 Covid-19 patients were in US hospitals Wednesday -- the most recorded on a given day, according to the COVID Tracking Project.