- New COVID-19 cases as well as hospitalizations have declined for two straight weeks in the United States.
- Experts say they welcome the trend, but they’re concerned cases may start to rise again as businesses reopen and the new variants continue to spread.
- Vaccinations are helping ease the pandemic, but more needs to be done in this effort, experts say.
Editor’s note: This story will be updated regularly as new statistics are released.
The number of COVID-19 cases in the United States continues to decline from its high-water mark in mid-January.
Experts interviewed by Healthline this week are encouraged by the trend, but they remain concerned the new variants as well as the reopening of businesses could drive the numbers back up.
“The declining rate of cases and hospitalizations are encouraging, but it cannot be overstated that COVID deaths lag infections — meaning that we are still in the midst of some of the deadliest weeks of this pandemic, even if hope is on the horizon,” said Dr. Jamila Taylor, the director of healthcare reform and a senior fellow at The Century Foundation.
“Let’s be clear: This is an uphill battle. If we allow falling case numbers and prospective vaccines to lull us into a sense of complacency, we will absolutely have another surge,” she said.
“I must admit, as welcome as they are, I’m somewhat challenged to explain the decline in cases and hospitalizations,” added Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee.
“Some jurisdictions already are relaxing restrictions on restaurant dining and bar attendance. That has resulted in a resurgence of cases in the past and may well again,” he said. “In addition, the new, more transmissible variants are on the rise, so I am concerned that the roller coaster of cases may well rise again during the spring.”
Overall, the United States has recorded more than 26 million confirmed COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began.
According to the COVID-19 Tracking Project, the number of new COVID-19 cases in the United States dropped 17 percent last week, the second straight week of decline.
Hospitalizations are now less than 95,000, down from the 130,000 reported less than a month ago.
COVID-19-related deaths in the United States have now surpassed 449,000. Fatalities rose 7 percent this past week as the COVID-19 Tracking Project noted that deaths sometimes lag behind trends in cases and hospitalizations.
Source: healthline