Washington, Dec 29 (IANS): More than 65,000 people have died of Covid-19 in the US in the past 28 days, making December the worst month for coronavirus fatalities in the hardest-hit country in world since the start of the pandemic.

December's figure, roughly equivalent to over 1.6 Americans lost to the virus every minute, marked a significant surge from that in the entire month of November which registered 36,964 fatalities, reports Xinhua news agency.

As of Tuesday morning, the overall death toll stood at 334,830, the highest in the world, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

"December is already the deadliest month since the beginning of the pandemic in the US," said a weekly report of The COVID Tracking Project.

Nationwide hospitalisations have also hit a record level in the last month of the tough year, as the country reported its fourth-highest number on Sunday with more than 118,720 patients hospitalised with Covid-19, according to the report.

With an unabated increase in the number of new coronavirus infections, country's total caseload has surged to 19,299,960.

In the wake of the authorisation of two Covid-19 vaccines earlier in December, some Americans have started to embrace their year-end holidays, which may also further aggravate the virus risk.

Statistics from the Transportation Security Administration show that despite warnings from health experts and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention against travelling, more than 1.1 million people were screened at airports on December 23, the day before Christmas Eve.

"We very well might see a post-seasonal in the sense of Christmas, New Years surge," the country's top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci told CNN on Sunday morning.

According to Fauci, holiday travel and private gatherings took place across the country regardless of the advice of health experts.