New York, Dec 31 (IANS): As Covid-19 cases, fuelled by the fast-moving Omicron variant, swamp hospitals across the globe, a US-based doctor said that the surge is "unlike anything we have ever seen".

"It's unlike anything we have ever seen, even at the peak of the prior surges of Covid," James Phillips, chief of disaster medicine at George Washington University Hospital, told CNN.

"What we are experiencing right now is an absolute overwhelming of the emergency departments in Washington," Phillips added.

According to Johns Hopkins University data, the nation hit a new pandemic high of 300,886 average new daily cases over the prior week.

According to CNN, it is a scene playing out across the country as record case counts are reported from New Jersey and New York to Arkansas and Chicago, where hospital bed capacity also is a concern.

In Arizona and New Mexico, federal medical personnel have deployed to provide Covid-19 surge support, the report said.

And in Georgia, six major health systems with recent 100 per cent to 200 per cent jumps in Covid-19 hospitalisations -- with most patients unvaccinated -- joined to publicly urge people to seek coronavirus testing elsewhere so their emergency rooms can focus on those with critical needs, it added.

In Louisiana, Covid-19 hospitalisations have tripled in the past two weeks as a new record for cases was set, according to the state.