COVID-19 cases decline nationwide

The seven-day average for new coronavirus cases in the United States has plummeted from over 800,000 in mid-January to 344,000 as of Feb 3. Daily testing data show that over the past two weeks, cases have fallen in every state except Maine, although state health officials there report that new infections also started falling just in the past week. Hospitalizations are also on a downward trajectory, with 15 percent fewer people admitted weekly compared with mid-January. However, the good news was tempered by Johns Hopkins University data on Friday showing total U.S. deaths attributed to COVID-19 have surpassed 900,000. Also on Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention fully authorized Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine, removing it from emergency use authorization.

What’s next in the battle against COVID-19? Some public health officials are hopeful the virus is near reaching an endemic state in the country and will become more manageable. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds announced that the state’s public health emergency would end on Feb. 15. Los Angeles is considering removing its outdoor mask mandate after the Super Bowl on Feb. 13. Scientists attribute the declining cases to vaccinations and the likelihood that the omicron variant has nearly run out of new people to infect.

Dig deeper: Read David C. Innes’ column in WORLD Opinions on getting past the pandemic.