The United States recorded 118,629 new COVID-19 cases Thursday, setting a new record just a day after reaching the grim milestone of 100,000 new cases in a single day, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Recent weeks have seen a spike in daily new cases and deaths on par with the beginning of the pandemic in spring, with 1,187 people dying from the virus Thursday, a 20 percent increase from the week before. Though public health experts have predicted the United States would reach six-figure daily case numbers, the huge surge came faster than most expected. Thus far, the coronavirus has infected 9.6 million Americans and killed more than 230,000.