At the start of today’s Covid-19 briefing, CDC director Rochelle Walensky announced encouraging figures in declining new cases, deaths and hospital admissions, but also offered a note of caution.
“We continue to see trends moving in the right direction, but cases, hospital admissions and deaths continue at very high levels,” Walensky said.
According to Walensky, new cases have steadily declined for five weeks, with the current seven-day average down 74% from its January 11 high. Today’s seven-day average, according to Walensky, is now 66,000 cases a day and is comparable to last summer’s peak.
In terms of new hospital admissions, the average of 6,500 seven-day days is down 60% from the January 9 high and is the lowest hospital admission rate since last fall.
With 1,900 deaths per day, the seven-day average of deaths has dropped 39% from the previous seven-day average, making it the lowest figure since early December.
However, Walensky noted: “This seven-day average is offset by the stark reality that this week we will exceed half a million deaths from Covid-19 in the United States, a truly tragic memory of the enormity of this pandemic. and the loss has affected our personal lives and our communities. “
“Even though the pandemic is going in the right direction, there is still a lot of work to be done,” he added.