Health workers load a deceased person into a trailer in New York. File/Reuters

The US braces for a post-holiday coronavirus surge as it sees its highest number yet of cases recorded in one day, with more than 277,000 infections.

The hardest-hit country in the world by the pandemic, the US reached 350,186 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University, and 20,427,780 cases. On New Year’s Day alone, another 160,606 new cases and 2,051 deaths were recorded.

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Thousands more are predicted to die in the coming months and doctors warn they are at “breaking point” and fighting “world war three”.

The One World Trade Centre is illuminated for its efforts to combat the coronavirus in New York. File/Reuters

Infections have been surging in recent months, with top US government scientist Anthony Fauci warning just days after Christmas that the worst of the pandemic may be yet to come, driving the country to a "critical point" as holiday travel spreads the virus.

The country has floundered in its efforts to quell COVID-19, with its vaccination programme beset by logistical problems and overstretched hospitals.

More than 4.2 million people in the US have already received their first jabs, with 13 million doses distributed, but that falls well behind the 20 million inoculations that President Donald Trump's administration promised by the end of 2020.