US Reports Lowest New Cases Of COVID In Several Weeks
Tuesday, the United States reported the fewest number of new cases of coronavirus infections in several weeks.
With 110,679 additional cases reporting in the last 24 hours, the total U.S. cases rose to 26,431,799, according to the latest data by Johns Hopkins University.
The country is witnessing consistent drop in hospitalizations for the past one week. Only 92,880 people are currently admitted in U.S. hospitals with coronavirus infection, which is the fewest since November 28, according to the latest data by COVID Tracking Project. Out of this, 18,388 patients are admitted in Intensive Care Units. The numbers had reached a peak of 132,474 on January 6.
For the first time since November 2, no state has more than 500 people per million hospitalized with COVID-19.
The test positivity rate continues to fall regularly. Out of nearly 1.40 million people who were tested for coronavirus on Tuesday, only 7.96 percent were diagnosed with the disease.
However, in terms of daily deaths, a sudden increase was reported on Tuesday. With 3,389 new deaths across the country, the national total rose to 446,744.
Seven-day average deaths declined more than 10 percent from last week in 25 states.
At least 52,657,675 anti-Covid vaccine doses were distributed in the U.S. on Tuesday, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At least 32,780,860 vaccine shots were administered.
Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, said that the country can begin to return to a sense of normalcy only after at least 70 percent of the population is fully vaccinated.
As New York City is poised to reopen indoor dining with 25 percent capacity on February 14, the infectious disease expert told CNN, “If you do indoor dining, you do it in a spaced way where you don’t have people sitting right next to each other.”
In COVID-related major news in other parts of the world, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced that it will supply 10 million Covid-19 vaccine doses to COVAX, a global initiative targeting poorer countries.
The Mexican government has issued emergency use authorization for Russian made Sputnik V vaccine. “Mexico has already signed a contract to receive the Sputnik V vaccine and we’re expecting 400,000 doses in February, 1 million in March, 6 million in April and the remainder in May,” Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell announced at a news conference on Tuesday.
New Zealand’s medicines regulator has provisionally approved Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine, which is expected to arrive in the country by the end of the first quarter.
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