(Reuters) – The United States last week reported a 23% drop in new cases of COVID-19 and a 16% drop in the number of people hospitalized with the virus, with both figures for a fifth week in succession.
© Reuters / SHANNON STAPLETON
A woman with a protective face mask walks while the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues along Bayfront Park in Sarasota, Florida
However, progress against the virus is threatened by several new variants, experts say, adding that face masks and social distance measures are still much needed.
About 4% of cases in the country are related to a more contagious variant that was first detected in the UK, according to dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.
“We predicted it could be the dominant tribe by March,” she told CBS ‘Face the Nation on Sunday.
The country recorded more than 639,000 new COVID-19 cases in the week ended February 14, according to a Reuters analysis of state and county reports. Compared to the previous week, new cases increased in only three out of 50 states: Alaska, Nebraska and South Dakota.
(Open https://tmsnrt.rs/2WTOZDR in an external browser to see state-by-state graphics.)
Deaths fell for a second week in a row, down 1.8% last week to 21,787. If a backlog of deaths is reported by Ohio, deaths fell by 15% last week. Cumulatively, nearly 486,000 people in America died from the virus, or one in every 673 residents.
The average number of COVID-19 patients in U.S. hospitals dropped to 74,000 last week, the lowest since mid-November, according to a Reuters analysis of data from the voluntarily managed COVID detection project.
At the national level, 5.7% of COVID-19 tests came in positive for the virus, the lowest level since the week ended October 25, according to data from the COVID Tracking Project.
(Graph: COVID-19 Global Tracker – https://graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps/)
(Graphics by Chris Canipe, written by Lisa Shumaker, edited by Tiffany Wu)
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