Hospitalizations in the United States due to Covid-19 continued to decline and the new cases reported were at levels last seen in late October, although weather conditions are affecting vaccination efforts in some parts of the country.
Data reports were also likely to be affected by winter storms.
The United States reported 69,228 new cases of coronavirus on Thursday, according to the latest data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Thursday’s count was similar to the previous day’s revised total of 70,188, which, while still high, is well below the peak levels recorded earlier this year.
A total of 62,300 Covid-19 patients were hospitalized in the United States on Thursday, the sixth consecutive day the number is below 70,000, according to the Covid Tracking Project. The number of people needing treatment in intensive care units because of the disease has also dropped to 13,045, the lowest level since 12 November.
Even with the cuts, health officials have warned that the numbers remain high and that new variants, spreading rapidly across the U.S., could reverse the gains.
The death toll in the country increased by 2,558 on Thursday, with the total exceeding 493,000, according to data from Johns Hopkins.
Federal officials, meanwhile, are projecting widespread delays in vaccine shipments and deliveries in the coming days due to bad weather sweeping the United States. The weather affected operations at FedEx Corp. facilities. in Memphis, Tennessee, and at United Parcel Service Inc facilities in Louisville, Ky., both of which are vaccine centers for several states, said the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Many vaccination and testing sites across Texas closed over the weekend and earlier in the week, according to local health officials, and some have not yet resumed operations. Covid-19’s free trial sites in Mississippi were closed on Thursday, and nearly all state-administered vaccination sites were closed, according to the Department of Health.
Despite interruptions in some states, the launch of vaccination in much of the country has advanced. More than 57.7 million injections were administered on Thursday morning, including more than 16 million doses of a second, according to the CDC.
According to data released on Thursday by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, cases of Covid-19 in nursing homes continue to fall rapidly – a sign that widespread vaccination at the facility is starting to have an impact.
The 5,672 coronavirus infections reported among nursing home residents in the week ending February 7 marked the seventh consecutive week of decline, from 33,601 in the week ending December 20, according to the data. The most recent number was much lower than in the previous week and represented the lowest total of weekly cases ever reported in federal data, which date back to May. However, the last week of federal data is consistently revised in later versions. The data are extracted from a survey of nursing homes.
Worldwide, more than 110 million people tested positive for the virus, and the global death toll exceeds 2.4 million, according to data from Johns Hopkins.
In a virtual meeting on Friday with G-7 leaders, President Biden will announce a total of $ 4 billion in US contributions to Covax’s international program, administration officials said, directly involving the nation in global efforts. to provide Covid-19 vaccines to the world’s poorest countries.
In a call with reporters on Thursday, senior officials said Biden would announce an initial investment of $ 2 billion and invite other nations to join the World Health Organization’s vaccination effort and reinforce its commitments. The Biden administration has said the initial contribution will come from funds appropriated by Congress in December, which are expected to be disbursed by the end of this month.