US Coronavirus: numbers are dropping, but officials warn against Super Bowl meetings to prevent the spread of Covid-19

“When people gather in private homes nearby, this is one of the most effective ways to spread the disease,” said Kentucky public health commissioner Dr. Steven Stack last week. “We cannot allow the disease to spread now, with these mutations and variants.”

As Florida prepares to host the Super Bowl, both cases and hospitalizations across the state experienced steady declines last month. Health officials reported more than 7,400 new cases of Covid-19 on Saturday and more than 140 new deaths related to the virus.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading infectious disease specialist, told MSNBC on Friday that “there will be other Super Bowls” in the future for Americans to resume their traditional celebrations.

“Enjoy the Super Bowl, but don’t do it with a large crowd of people in your home, in a place where it’s cold and you don’t have good ventilation. It’s a perfect setup for having a mini super-distribution event,” he said.

Why cases may be decreasing

The drop in Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations in the United States comes after several brutal months that saw regular records of these numbers.

The seven-day national average of new cases also looks very different from what it was a month ago: on January 6, the country averaged more than 220,000 new cases per day. On Saturday, the seven-day average was more than 120,000 new cases daily.

What is probably behind the decline, according to Fauci, is that the natural course of numbers has increased after the holiday and is now stabilizing, combined with more Americans taking security precautions.

“This is what I think is happening: a combination of the natural peak, as well as people doubling in public health measures,” Fauci told MSNBC on Friday.

And while many parts of the country have eased restrictions amid declining numbers, others are reducing the number of security precautions.

“The virus is really easily transmitted when you don’t have your face covered, so when you are indoors to eat or drink and you have to remove the cover from your face, this is the perfect environment for this virus to be transmitted,” Ferrer said .

“Yesterday, we spoke directly to bars that continue to break all guidelines set by this administration to protect our residents,” said Peter Bowen, deputy managing director of the city’s Office of Business and External Services, in a statement.

“We said we knew who you were, what you were doing and how you were trying to hide what you were doing, and WHAT we were going to do if you continued,” Bowen added in his statement. “This is what we mean, and we are not done yet.”

More than 30 million Americans received the first dose of the vaccine

Meanwhile, more than 30 million Americans have received at least their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, according to data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 8 million Americans received both doses of vaccine, CDC data show.

In Houston, government officials asked for more doses of the Covid-19 vaccine to be sent to local public hospitals that reach these communities.

“You may have the best health care system in the world, but if people can’t access it, it’s like you have nothing,” Mayor Sylvester Turner told a news conference on Saturday.

Local leaders said that some hospitals open to people without insurance receive a lower percentage of doses than private hospitals – but 88% of the doses they provide are for people of color.

“If you want to deal with the disparity, you will have to send the doses to the locations that are reaching these regions,” said Turner.

“New Yorkers with testing or vaccination commitments in these locations will receive notification of these suspensions by text message and telephone. Consultations will be rescheduled for the end of the week,” a statement from the governor’s office said.