PROVIDENCE, RI (AP) – The deadliest month for the coronavirus outbreak in the United States has come to an end with some signs of progress: COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are plummeting, while vaccinations are picking up speed.
The question is whether the nation can stay ahead of rapidly spreading virus mutations.
The death toll in the U.S. has surpassed 440,000, with more than 95,000 lives lost in January alone. Deaths are about 3,150 a day on average, a small decrease of about 200 from the peak in mid-January.
But as the calendar went to February on Monday, the number of Americans in the hospital with COVID-19 dropped to less than 100,000 for the first time in two months. New cases of infection average about 148,000 days, dropping from almost 250,000 in mid-January. And cases are showing a downward trend in all 50 states.
“While the recent decline in hospital admissions and cases is encouraging, they are offset by the harsh reality that in January we recorded the highest number of COVID-19 deaths in any month since the start of the pandemic,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Deaths do not move in perfect tune up or down with the infection curve. They are an indicator of delay, because it can take a few weeks for people to get sick and die from COVID-19.
Dr. Philip Landrigan, an epidemiologist at Boston College, said vaccines are a factor in the sharp drop in cases, but they are not the primary cause. Instead, he said, the crisis has become increasingly “depoliticized” in recent weeks, as more people face the threat and how they can help slow the spread of the virus.
“I don’t think you can underestimate the importance of this change in culture. I think it is extremely important, ”he said.
After a slow start, the vaccination campaign that started in mid-December is accelerating. More than 32.2 million doses have been administered in the United States, according to the CDC. That’s an increase of 16.5 million on the day President Joe Biden took office, January 20.
The number of doses dispensed in the week and a half since Biden’s inauguration was about 1.3 million a day on average, well above the president’s often stated goal of 1 million a day. More than 5.9 million Americans received the two required doses, said the CDC.
However, the CDC reported on Monday that many nursing home workers are not receiving their vaccines when doses are first offered.
The researchers looked at more than 11,000 nursing homes and other similar facilities that had at least one vaccination clinic between mid-December and mid-January. While 78% of residents fired at least once, only 37.5% of employees did so. Research suggests that some health care workers are skeptical about the effectiveness of vaccines and do not think that viruses spread easily from them to the people they care for.
Three mutant variants of the virus from Britain, South Africa and Brazil have been detected in the United States. The British one spreads more easily and is believed to be more deadly, but South Africa’s is causing even more concern because of early indications that vaccines may not be as protective against it.
The more the virus spreads, the more opportunities it has to mutate.
Walensky urged Americans to get vaccinated as soon as vaccines are available and stressed that it is not the time to relax basic precautions, such as wearing masks.
Meanwhile, a snowstorm on Monday forced the closure of many vaccination sites in the Northeast, including in New York City and Connecticut.
And a plan to reopen Chicago schools for some 62,000 students for the first time since March remained in doubt. Last-minute negotiations over COVID-19 security measures with the teachers’ union have stalled, increasing the possibility of a strike or blockade if educators do not show up for work.
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Kunzelman reported from College Park, Maryland. Associated Press writers Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Marilynn Marchione, Sophia Tareen, Bill Kole and Mike Stobbe contributed to this report.