The number of new coronavirus cases and hospitalizations across the country continued to fall last week, although the death toll remains high, according to reports.
Cases fell 17 percent during the week to Jan. 27, while hospitalizations for COVID-19 fell 10 percent, according to the COVID follow-up project.
It marked the second consecutive week of declines in both categories.
But the death toll from the virus remains at levels not seen before this month, up 7 percent from last week with 22,797 deaths reported.
However, deaths tend to lag behind falls in cases and hospitalizations.
“Even with cases falling in the United States, we may have a week or more of very high death rates,” the researchers behind the project said.
In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday that the seven-day average of positive COVID-19 testing declined for the 23rd consecutive day at Empire State.
“We have dealt with a wave of holidays driven by increased social activity,” Cuomo said in a statement. “The rise is slowing down.”
“The news here and now is very good, but watch out for the UK variants and the other variants, as they all suggest that more diligence will be needed,” he said.
More contagious mutations or variants of the virus have occurred in the UK and South Africa, and both have been detected in patients in the US.
Despite the silver lining, Cuomo also said Saturday that the dark cloud of the pandemic remains over the state: the overall positivity rate in New York rose the day before, from 4.65% to 4.75 %.
Health experts also warn that a reduction in tests in recent weeks could be causing a false drop in the number of new cases, according to the follow-up project.
As of Sunday, the United States had reported more than 26 million cases and 440,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.