Despite the encouraging downward trend, Covid’s deaths in the US remain high

Coronavirus cases are decreasing in the United States as the vaccine’s launch in the country gains speed. But despite the huge drop in new infections since the beginning of this year, the death rate in the United States remains at almost 1,500 people every day. That number still exceeds the peak of summer, when patients filled the Sun Belt hospitals and outbreaks in states that reopened earlier generated a record number of cases, although daily deaths across the country remained below the first increase last spring. . The number of new cases reported per day remains almost as high as the summer record.

At the same time, officials in Texas and Mississippi have suspended masking mandates, while other states are closing company capacity limits.

Most experts believe that the worst days of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States are behind us. About 66 million Americans have been at least partially vaccinated, and the rate of doses administered has risen to about 2.3 million a day from about 1.2 million a day in late January and continues to grow.

Combining the number of vaccinees and estimates of those who have had the virus could mean that about 40% of residents in the United States now have some protection against the virus, according to one analysis. And President Biden on Thursday asked states to make vaccines available to all US adults by May 1.

But experts also warn that the country is still unclear: the most contagious virus variants threaten to increase the number of cases again, especially if there are fewer measures in place to control transmission. And states where new outbreaks are starting from a high point may be at particular risk.

The average number of new cases per day has dropped by more than 75 percent since the peak on January 8, but the drop in deaths started a few weeks later and was not so sharp. Covid’s reported deaths generally delay positive cases by several weeks, which could help explain why the national death rate still exceeds its summer peak, while new cases do not.

“While these trends are starting to go in the right direction, the number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths remains very high and are bleak reminders that we must remain vigilant as we work to increase vaccination efforts,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at a White House Covid response briefing on Wednesday. “We must continue to use proven preventive measures to slow the spread of Covid-19. They are approaching the end of this pandemic. ”

A CDC study from last week offered new evidence that preventive measures work to stop transmission: mandatory masks have been associated with a drop in cases and deaths, while an increase in cases and deaths has been associated with opening meals in person . Dr. Walensky called the report an alert against premature lifting of control measures.