The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) tweeted on Wednesday that Americans should remain vigilant due to rising COVID-19 infections, but the slight upswing in new cases does not tell the whole story of the state of the pandemic.
The CDC shared a tweet citing the seven-day moving average of new COVID-19 cases in America, it rose 3.5% on March 1 compared to the previous week. Nearly every other data point indicates that the pandemic will continue to subside, but the organization did not share the information Wednesday in any public communication.
The CDC said it was now “not the time to relax prevention measures.” The messages came after the Republican government, Texas, Greg Abbott, announced that his state would relax all restrictions on COVID-19.
Abt received criticism for the move. President Joe Biden described the governor’s actions on Wednesday as “Neanderthal thinking”, hours before the CDC tweeted. But national data indicates that America’s vaccination campaign is working, and that the pandemic is beginning to fade.
Cases of # COVID-19 increases.
As of March 1, the 7-day moving average of new business is 66,010, an increase of 3.5% from the previous week. This is not the time to relax prevention measures. Wear a mask that fits well. Stay 6 feet apart. Avoid crowds. More: https://t.co/YT7LKi6sF2. pic.twitter.com/5fjf0h0G9e
– CDC (@ CDCgov) March 3, 2021
According to the CDC’s COVID-19 tracking data, the new numbers have actually declined over the past ten days. There were 53,716 new cases on February 21, before an increase to 75,105 new cases on February 25. However, the numbers dropped again to 54,276 new cases on March 2nd. Businesses have been steadily declining in the past since peaking in mid-January. of more than 300,000 new cases in one day.
Although positive cases were approximately equal, the numbers of testing were steadily upward. According to The COVID Tracking Project, the seven-day average for new tests on February 21 was nearly 1.3 million. On March 2, the average of seven days was more than 1.5 million. The data suggest that the apparent increase in cases is due to more general testing, not an actual increase in infections.
According to Johns Hopkins data, testing of the positivity rate gradually declined from a high of almost 14% in mid-January. While the US positivity rate flattened briefly at the end of February, by the time the CDC said cases had risen, the positivity rate had started to fall again and is now close to 4%.
Other measures paint the same positive picture. COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. have been steadily declining since mid-January and are still doing so after a brief but slight jump at the end of February. On February 21, the average of seven days for new deaths was just over 1900. On March 2, it was back to 1,846. This is lower than a peak on January 3 to January 26.
At the end of February, there was no such flattening or increase in hospitalizations. On February 21, just over 56,000 Americans were admitted to the hospital with COVID-19. There are now almost 46,000 inhabitants. Hospitalizations peaked at more than 132,000 on January 7th. (RELATED: Jen Psaki Responds to Proposition that Teacher Vaccination Priority is ‘Anti-Equity Because Most Teachers Are White’)
All of these trends coincide with more Americans being vaccinated. Nearly 53 million people have now received at least one vaccine dose in the United States, according to The Washington Post.
More than 27 million Americans received two doses, meaning they were fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Vaccination rates are also increasing, with the US administering more than 2 million doses a day. (RELATED: COVID-19 Launched in China. Now They Use It to Exercise Global Power)