U.S.
COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations log biggest weekly drops since
pandemic started
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[February 09, 2021]
(Reuters) - The United States reported a
25% drop in new cases of COVID-19 to about 825,000 last week, the
biggest fall since the pandemic started, although health officials said
they were worried new variants of the virus could slow or reverse this
progress.
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New cases of the virus have now fallen for four weeks in a row to
the lowest level since early November, according to a Reuters
analysis of state and county reports. The steepest drop was in
California, where cases in the week ended Feb. 7 fell 48%. Only
Oregon, Puerto Rico, Arkansas and Vermont saw cases rise. (Open
https://tmsnrt.rs/2WTOZDR in an external browser to see a
state-by-state graphic.)
At least three new variants of the novel coronavirus are circulating
in the United States, including the UK variant B.1.1.7 that is 30%
to 40% more contagious, according to researchers.
"I'm asking everyone to please keep your guard up," Dr. Rochelle
Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, said on Monday. "The continued proliferation of variants
remains a great concern and is a threat that could reverse the
recent positive trends we are seeing."
The average number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals fell by 15% to
88,000 last week, also a record percentage drop, according to a
Reuters analysis of data from the volunteer-run COVID Tracking
Project. It was the lowest average number in hospitals since late
November.
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Death fell 2.5% last week to
22,193. Excluding a backlog of deaths reported
by Indiana, fatalities were down 9.5% last week.
Deaths are a lagging indicator and usually fall
several weeks after cases and hospitalizations
drop.
Cumulatively, nearly 464,000 people have died
from the virus in the United States, or one in
every 704 residents.
Nationally, 7.3% of tests of tests came back
positive for the virus, down from 8.5% the prior
week, according to data from the COVID Tracking
Project.
Graphic: GRAPHIC-COVID-19 global tracker:
https://graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps/
(Graphic by Chris Canipe, writing by Lisa
Shumaker, editing by Tiffany Wu)
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