February 8 (Reuters) – The United States last week reported a 25% drop in new cases of COVID-19 to about 825,000, the largest drop since the pandemic began, though health officials said they were concerned about new variants of the virus may slow down or reverse this progress.
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New cases of the virus have now dropped to their lowest level since early November for four consecutive weeks, according to a Reuters analysis of state and province reports. The strongest decline was in California, where cases fell 48% in the week ended Feb. 7. Only Oregon, Puerto Rico, Arkansas and Vermont have seen business rise. (Open https://tmsnrt.rs/2WTOZDR in an external browser to see state-by-state graphics.)
At least three new variants of the new coronavirus are circulating in the United States, including the British variant B.1.1.7 which according to researchers is 30% to 40% more contagious.
“I ask everyone to please be vigilant,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Monday. “The continued spread of variants remains a major source of concern and is a threat that could reverse the recent positive trends we are seeing.”
The average number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals dropped 15% last week to 88,000, also a record percentage drop, according to a Reuters analysis of data from the volunteer-run COVID Tracking Project. This was the lowest average number in hospitals since the end of November.
The death toll dropped by 2.5% last week to 22,193. If a backlog of deaths is reported by Indiana, the death toll dropped by 9.5% last week. Deaths are a backward indicator and usually fall a few weeks after cases and hospitalizations have dropped.
Cumulatively, nearly 464,000 people in the United States have died from the virus, or one in every 704 residents.
According to data from the COVID Tracking Project, 7.3% of tests returned positive for the virus, up from 8.5% the previous week.
(Graphics by Chris Canipe, written by Lisa Shumaker, edited by Tiffany Wu)
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