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 A slow but steady reduction in the number of Americans entering
hospitals with the disease has paralleled a choppy rollout of
vaccines that also are expected to reduce spread of the coronavirus
that causes it.
"We're starting to see the light at the end of the horizon," New
Jersey Governor Phil Murphy told CNN on Wednesday. “I think this is
now going in the right direction. It's slow, admittedly.”
About 4,300 Americans died of COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, the
third highest daily toll since the first U.S. case was identified
almost exactly a year ago on Jan. 20, 2020. The United States, one
of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic, reported a total of
25.31 million cases and 425,120 deaths by day's end on Tuesday.
Concerns remain that new variants of the virus from such places as
Brazil and the United Kingdom might further spread infection, and
the U.S. vaccine rollout has been uneven at best, frustrating
doctors and patients alike who are having difficulty signing up for
and receiving their shots.
But the number of patients sick enough to be hospitalized, a key
indicator of the disease's pace, spread and severity, has trended
lower, falling 17.7% from a peak on Jan. 6 to 108,709, the lowest
since Dec. 12, according to a Reuters tally.
Cases surged due to holiday gatherings starting with Thanksgiving in
November, overwhelming hospitals and medical systems nationwide. But
with the cases and hospitalizations on the decline, some U.S. states
have slightly eased some of the tightest public health restrictions.
In California, Governor Gavin Newsom this week lifted a stay-at-home
order that had affected much of the most populous U.S. state. The
order allows hair salons to open with modifications and permits
restaurants to reopen for patio dining. However many restrictions
remain, including a ban on indoor worship services that affects most
of the state.
With cases leveling somewhat in Los Angeles County, the state's most
densely populated, elementary schools might reach the state's legal
threshold for re-opening within two to three weeks, the Los Angeles
Times reported on Wednesday, citing a briefing to the city council
by county Public Health Department Director Barbara Ferrer.
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 However, because local teachers
unions and schools districts must also agree on
when and how to re-open, it was not immediately
clear that classes would begin next month even
if cases further diminish.
In Ohio, Governor Mike DeWine tweeted on
Wednesday that the state will make vaccines
available next week to 91,000 teachers and
personnel needed for in-person schooling of
students. The state aims to reopen schools in
March. "At this point it’s safe
to say the holiday surge was anticipated, the holiday surge did
happen, but the holiday surge is over,” said New York Governor
Andrew Cuomo.
Citing a marked improvement in leading pandemic metrics, Cuomo
lifted economic restrictions in several areas across the state where
infection rates had been high, and said he would soon have a plan to
reopen New York City restaurants.
Cuomo halted indoor dining at the thousands of restaurants in New
York City as hospitals filled with COVID-19 patients in
mid-December, leaving eateries to rely on take-out business and
makeshift outdoor pavilions for survival.
Public health officials say they are well aware that cases could
increase again.
President Joe Biden, who has called the fight against the virus a
"wartime undertaking," on Tuesday cautioned: "It's going to take
months for us to turn things around."
 (Reporting by Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento, California, Peter
Szekely in New York, Maria Caspani in New York and Anurag Maan in
Bengaluru. Writing by Sharon Bernstein; Editing by Howard Goller)
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