Daily cases and deaths of the coronavirus increased over the weekend, after being stable for several weeks.
On Sunday, the U.S. recorded 33,645 cases, the lowest figure since Sept. 28 and a drop of nearly 37 percent from the 53,000 cases seen the previous day, according to a DailyMail.com analysis of data from the Johns Hopkins University.
Meanwhile, only 432 deaths were reported, which is the lowest number of daily deaths recorded since October 25.
It is also the sixth time since the start of the new year that the number of new deaths reported in one day has been below 1,000.
According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), hospital admissions are declining to about 4,500 patients admitted each day last week, from about 4,800 a day the previous week.
Since the pandemic began, more than 29.9 million Americans have been infected with COVID-19 and more than 542,000 have died.
Although the incidence of vaccinations in the US is still increasing, cases of coronavirus are increasing in more than half of the states, according to data from Johns Hopkins.
Among the states with increasing infections are Florida and South Carolina, where thousands of college students are heading to Spring Break.
In addition, new cases per 100,000 people in some northeastern states are at least double the national average.
Although about 2.5 million Americans are vaccinated every day, some fear that governors will loosen restrictions on businesses too quickly.
On Sunday, the U.S. recorded 33,645 cases, the lowest figure since Sept. 28 and a drop of nearly 37% from the 53,000 new cases recorded the previous day.
A total of 432 deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported, the lowest number since October 25 and the sixth time since 2021 that daily deaths have fallen below 1,000.
Despite the average 2.5 million people being vaccinated each day, 26 states report an increase in cases, according to Johns Hopkins data (above)
Infections are increasing in the following 26 states: Alabama, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Dakota , Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
Public health experts believe the increase is due to a combination of new variants spreading and the population experiencing so-called ‘pandemic fatigue’.
Officials estimate that the coronavirus variant first identified in the UK, B.1.1.7., Probably accounts for about 30 per cent of current infections.
The variant was behind a recent wave of roadblocks in Europe, with provinces including France and Italy introducing strict measures to reduce the spread.
Some experts fear that this is a foreshadowing of what will come in the US
‘I understand. We all want to return to our everyday activities and spend time with our family, friends and loved ones. But we have to find the strength to just hang on there a little longer, ‘said dr. Rochelle Walensky, CDC director, said during a press conference on Monday.
“We must act now and I am concerned that if we do not take the right steps now, we will have a new inevitable boom, just as we are currently seeing in Europe, and just as we are scaling up vaccinations so aggressively.”
Dr Scott Gottlieb, the former commissioner for food and drug administration, told CBS on Sunday that enough people have been vaccinated and have natural immunity to previous infections to prevent a large increase.
However, I think ‘what you could see is a plateau for a period before we continue with a downward decline – mainly because B.1.1.7 is more prevalent, mostly because we are retreating too fast. “With regard to taking off our masks and removing the softening,” he said.
But many states are worried about Spring Breakers.
Data from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) show more than one million passengers passing through US airports every day for the past ten days.
On Sunday, more than 1.5 million people were screened, the highest figure since the pandemic.
Florida is one of the states that reports an increase in cases, presumably due to the fact that most infections are linked to the UK variant known as B.1.1.7.
Another popular Spring Break destination – South Carolina – reports an increase in cases, which health officials fear could undo progress in repairing the virus.
A health expert said she feared the mixture of being maskless and collapsing over Spring Break would lead to the coronavirus being brought back to their home state and spread. Pictured: Spring vacation tourists walk along Ocean Drive in Miami Beach, Florida, March 21
In Florida, Miami Beach officials declared a state of emergency and set a curfew in the city’s entertainment district until the weekend of April 11.
According to the CDC, the Sunshine State reported a six percent increase in cases in the past week, and the highest number of cases linked to B.1.1.7.
It is estimated that about eight percent of all cases in Florida are linked to the variant, Walensky said during the briefing.
“I wish people would at least numb themselves,” said Dr. Megan Ranney, and emergency physician, told CNN on Sunday with reference to people on spring break.
‘I expect that very few of the young adults have been vaccinated, and that they are afraid that they will bring that B.1.1.7 variant back to their home state and spread it,. ‘
Meanwhile, an increasing number of residents in South Carolina are being vaccinated, but health officials say they are still wary of another wave.
In the past week, there has been an 18 percent increase in new daily cases.
“We are concerned about a boom,” Dr Jane Kelly, assistant state epidemiologist at the Department of Health and Environmental Control, told the Charleston Post and Courier.
“We have come this far and we will hate to lose the profits we have made to this day.”
New Jersey reports 36.4 cases per 100,000 population, more than double the national average of about 10 cases per 100,000 people
In Pennsylvania, the daily incidence of new coronavirus in the past two weeks has risen by 21%, data from the Department of Health showed.
However, the upward trend is not limited to southern or western states.
“Some regions, such as the Northeast and the Upper Midwest, are starting to see a significant increase in cases again,” Walensky said.
“This should serve as an important warning to the American people.”
Over the weekend, coronavirus activity in New Jersey has moved from ‘moderate’ to ‘high’ over the past three weeks, the Department of Health revealed, according to Patch.
In addition, the Garden State reports twice the number of new infections per capita as seen at the national level.
The current national average is ten cases per 100,000 people, according to a DailyMail.com analysis. By comparison, New Jersey reports 36.4 cases per 100,000 residents.
What’s more, nearly 10 percent of all cases in New Jersey are linked to the British variant, the CDC revealed Monday.
Meanwhile, the Pennsylvania Inquirer in Pennsylvania daily increased new cases of coronavirus by 21%.
