The U.S. has now topped 19 million coronavirus cases since the pandemic began, data compiled by Johns Hopkins University shows.

America exceeded that mark on Sunday, just six days after it reached 18 million. The nation’s case numbers have more than doubled in less than two months.

COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. also have been rising, and now total more than 332,000. That’s more than one death for every 1,000 Americans. The U.S. population as of Saturday was about 331 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The United States accounts for about 4% of the world’s population, but close to 24% of its total coronavirus cases and 19% of its COVID-19 deaths. Health experts believe many cases have gone unreported, however, both in America and internationally.

The pandemic continues to ravage the U.S., seemingly out of control in parts of the country, though help is on the way in the form of two vaccines, one from Pfizer-BioNTech and the other from Moderna.

In Southern California, Orange County reported 3,200 new cases of COVID-19 and one additional death Sunday, bringing the county's totals to 147,463 cases and 1,846 fatalities.

The county continues to set records for COVID-19 hospitalizations, as that number rose to 1,990 on Sunday, with 443 of those patients in intensive care, according to the Orange County Health Care Agency.

The county's state-adjusted ICU bed availability remained at zero, and the unadjusted figure rose to 7.3%, an improvement from 5.7% on Saturday. The state created the adjusted metric to reflect the difference in beds available for COVID-19 patients and non-coronavirus patients.

County officials are bracing for another surge in cases related to holiday gatherings piled on top of the Thanksgiving-fueled wave.

"We're facing COVID spikes from Thanksgiving right now," Orange County Supervisor Lisa Bartlett said Wednesday. "And we're very low on ICU bed capacity. Under normal COVID circumstances that may not raise a lot of red flags, but the difference now between the prior surge we had and now is we had excess surge capacity then and essentially now we have no surge capacity."

In New York City, the 7-day average positivity rate is up, with more than than 3,200 new COVID cases were reported in the city on Dec. 25.

The mayor's office says the seven-day average positivity rate is up again now standing at 6.78%. One 180 people were admitted to city hospitals.

Mayor Bill de Blasio also says more than 51,000 city residents have received their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine.

Total hospitalizations in New York State are sitting at 7,183, with a 5.85% statewide positivity rate.

Unemployment benefits for millions of Americans struggling to make ends meet lapsed overnight Saturday as President Donald Trump refuses to sign a $900 billion coronavirus relief deal struck last week by Congress, which would extend programs created in March to help ease the economic pain caused by the pandemic.

Trump’s refusal to sign the bipartisan package as he demands larger COVID relief checks and complains about “pork” spending could also force a federal government shutdown when money runs out at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday in the middle of a pandemic.

“It’s a chess game and we are pawns,” said Lanetris Haines, a self-employed single mother of three in South Bend, Indiana, who stands to lose her $129 weekly jobless benefit unless Trump signs the package into law or succeeds in his improbable quest for changes.

Millions more jobless Americans are currently collecting checks under two federal programs that were created in March to ease the economic pain inflicted by the pandemic. Those programs had been set to expire the day after Christmas. On Monday, Congress agreed to extend them as part of a $900 billion pandemic rescue package.

The day after Congress passed the relief measure, which was paired with a $1.4 trillion omnibus spending measure to fund the government, Trump slammed the bill, taking particular issue with the low amount of money allocated as direct payments to Americans. 

“I am asking Congress to amend this bill and increase the ridiculously low $600 to $2,000 or $4,000 for a couple," Trump said in a Tuesday night video released on social media. "I am also asking Congress to immediately get rid of the wasteful and unnecessary items from this legislation, and to send me a suitable bill or else the next administration will have to deliver a COVID relief package.” 

The bipartisan compromise had been considered a done deal and had won sweeping approval in the House and Senate this week after the White House assured GOP leaders that Trump supported it. If he refuses to sign the deal, which is attached to a $1.4 trillion government funding bill, it will force a federal government shutdown, in addition to delaying aid checks and halting unemployment benefits and eviction protections in the most dire stretch of the pandemic.

“Made many calls and had meetings at Trump International in Palm Beach, Florida. Why would politicians not want to give people $2000, rather than only $600?” he tweeted after leaving the golf course Friday afternoon. “It wasn’t their fault, it was China. Give our people the money!”

Graham tweeted Friday night that Trump was still intent on getting changes in yearend legislation before signing it, noting that after spending time with the president, "I am convinced he is more determined than ever to increase stimulus payments to $2000 per person and challenge Section 230 big tech liability protection.” he said in his tweet “Both are reasonable demands, and I hope Congress is listening. The biggest winner would be the American people.”

In addition to the COVID aid, Graham was referring to another Trump priority: to get a repeal of Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, a law that protects online platforms from liability for content posted by users.

Trump’s decision to attack the COVID bill has been seen, at least in part, as political punishment for what he considers insufficient backing by congressional Republicans of his campaign to overturn the results of the Nov. 3 election with unfounded claims of voter fraud.

In a statement released Saturday, President-elect Joe Biden urged Trump to sign the bill, warning of "devastating consequences" if he does not take action.

"Today, about 10 million Americans will lose unemployment insurance benefits. In just a few days, government funding will expire, putting vital services and paychecks for military personnel at risk," Biden wrote. "In less than a week, a moratorium on evictions expires, putting millions at risk of being forced from their homes over the holidays."

"Delay means more small businesses won’t survive this dark winter because they lack access to the lifeline they need, and Americans face further delays in getting the direct payments they deserve as quickly as possible to help deal with the economic devastation caused by COVID-19," Biden added.

"This bill is critical," Biden wrote. "It needs to be signed into law now."

Biden accused Trump of an “abdication of responsibility” that has “devastating consequences.”