Average U.S. Covid-19 Case Count Has Been Falling for Almost a Month
COVID-19 #COVID-19
The seven-day average of newly reported Covid-19 cases has remained below the 14-day average for nearly a month in the U.S., indicating cases are declining.
As of Sunday, the seven-day average of new cases reported each day in the U.S. was 33,213, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The 14-day average was 37,086. The seven-day average has been lower than the 14-day average since April 17.
There were 16,864 new cases reported in the U.S. for Sunday, and 262 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins data. Monday’s figures brought the total number of cases reported in the U.S. to 32.94 million, and the national death toll to nearly 586,000. However, about a third of states don’t report newly reported cases or deaths on weekends.
An average of 1.9 million vaccine doses a day have been administered during the past week, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, slightly lower from a week earlier and down from an average of 3.4 million doses a day in mid-April. In all, 272.9 million doses have been administered, and 37% of the population has been fully vaccinated while 47.3% has had at least one dose.
U.S. public-health officials tried to address confusion about new masking guidelines released last week, reiterating that vaccinated individuals are at low risk of catching or spreading Covid-19 but leaving the future of mask mandates up to local jurisdictions and private businesses.
“This is not permission for widespread removal of masks,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said Sunday on ABC. “We were going to get to the point in the pandemic where the vaccinated could take off their masks.”
Dr. Walensky said the updated guidance would help communities figure out how to balance safety with reopening, while encouraging people to get vaccinated.
Companies, meanwhile, are considering accelerating plans to return to the office, given the new guidelines that say vaccinated Americans can go unmasked.
World-wide, more than 163 million Covid-19 cases have been reported in total, and nearly 3.4 million people have died, according to Johns Hopkins data.