National

Data: CSSE Johns Hopkins University; Map: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios

Coronavirus infections continue to plummet across the U.S.

Why it matters: Experts have warned many times over the past year that it wouldn’t be safe to rush back into pre-pandemic life without containing the virus. Now, though, the U.S. is finally containing the virus.

By the numbers: The U.S. averaged about 30,000 cases per day over the past week.

The progress is happening remarkably fast, and across the board.

It was just last week that average daily cases dropped below 40,000, for the first time in months. This week’s figures are a 20% improvement over last week.

39 states saw their caseloads improve over the past week. 

Alabama showed an increase in new cases, although the state had some unusual reporting glitches this week. 

Technically, cases also increased in Washington, D.C., but it’s no cause for alarm: The District has fewer new cases per day (about 48, on average) than any state.

What’s next: This is all happening because of the vaccines. The more people get vaccinated, the better it’ll get.

New coronavirus cases fall by 20%

They're continuing to plummet because of the vaccines.

Coronavirus

Health

The pace of new coronavirus infections in the U.S. fell by nearly 20% over the past week — the fifth straight week of double-digit declines.

The big picture: America’s vaccination drive is working, and as it continues to expand, the country can safely get back to many of its pre-pandemic routines.

By the numbers: The U.S. averaged roughly 24,000 new cases per day over the past week, a 20% drop from week before. Cases have fallen every week since mid-April.

38 states improved over the past week. Only four states saw their outbreaks grow.

This is happening because of the vaccines. Half of American adults are fully vaccinated, and roughly 62% of adults have gotten at least one shot, according to the CDC.

What’s next: The pandemic continues to rage overseas, and the Biden administration will face increasing pressure to export more vaccines now that the virus is so well contained in the U.S.

Each week, Axios tracks the change in new infections in each state. We use a seven-day average to minimize the effects of day-to-day discrepancies in states’ reporting.

New coronavirus cases fall for fifth week

The pace of new coronavirus infections in the U.S. fell by nearly 20% over the past week — the fifth straight week of double-digit declines.The big picture: America’s vaccination drive is working, and as it continues to expand, the country can safely get back to many of its pre-pandemic routines.

Coronavirus infections in the U.S. are now at their lowest levels in seven months, thanks to the vaccines.

The big picture: The vaccines are turning the tide in America's battle with the coronavirus. Deaths and serious illnesses have dropped significantly, and now cases are falling too — an important piece of protection for the future, if we can keep it up.

By the numbers: The U.S. averaged about 48,000 new cases per day over the past week.

That’s a 13% improvement over the week before, and it’s the first time since October that average daily cases have dipped below 50,000.

20 states saw fewer new cases over the past week than they did the week before, while outbreaks got bigger in 10 states. 

New Jersey saw the biggest improvement over the past week, with a 40% drop in new cases, followed by Connecticut, at 30%.

Why it’s happening: Over half of all American adults have now gotten at least one shot of a vaccine, and 41% of adults are fully vaccinated.

Between the lines: It took a while for the U.S. vaccination drive to translate into a sustained decline in the number of new cases, and the virus is still surging worldwide.

Because the virus has already been able to spread so widely, it will likely stay in our lives for years to come, thanks to new variants that will continue to evolve.

Future variants may be deadlier, or more able to evade our existing vaccines. For now, though, the vaccines appear to be highly effective against nearly every common variant.

The bottom line: The vaccines are working. They are saving lives and beating back the virus right now, and they can minimize the virus’ presence in our lives in the future — if enough people get them.

Coronavirus cases hit a seven-month low

Coronavirus infections in the U.S. are now at their lowest levels in seven months, thanks to the vaccines.The big picture: The vaccines are turning the tide in America&#x27;s battle with the coronavirus. Deaths and serious illnesses have dropped significantly, and now cases are falling too — an important piece of protection for the future, if we can keep it up.

America’s battle against the coronavirus is going great. 

The big picture: For the first time in a long time, nobody needs to cherry-pick some misleading data to make it seem like things are going well, and the good news doesn’t need an endless list of caveats, either. It’s just really good news. We’re winning. Be happy.

By the numbers: The U.S. averaged fewer than 40,000 new cases per day over the past week.

That’s a 21% improvement over the week before, and the first time the daily average has dipped below 40,000 since September — eight months ago.

New cases declined last week in 37 states. Not a single state moved in the wrong direction.

Deaths from the coronavirus are at their lowest level since last July — about 600 per day, on average, per the AP, and may soon hit their lowest point of the entire pandemic. Nationally, hospitalization rates are also falling significantly.

The U.S. is finally winning its battle against COVID-19 thanks almost exclusively to one weapon: the vaccines.

More than 107 million Americans have gotten both doses of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, and the vaccination drive in the U.S. has been underway for nearly six months. All of that real-world experience has confirmed that the vaccines are highly effective, and it has produced no new safety concerns.

99.7% of hospitalized coronavirus patients are unvaccinated, the Cleveland Clinic said this week — more real-world evidence that the vaccines prevent the type of serious infections that were killing over 3,000 Americans per day just a few months ago.

What’s next: Almost 60% of American adults have gotten at least one shot, and roughly 45% are fully vaccinated. The next step: vaxxing the 12- to 15-year-olds.

Demand seems to be slowing, but continuing to get more shots into more arms is essential to cementing America’s progress — and the safe return to work, school, restaurants and travel that can come with it.

America is finally winning its fight against the coronavirus

There's no need to cherry-pick the numbers. It's good news all around.

America’s battle against the coronavirus is going great. The big picture: For the first time in a long time, nobody needs to cherry-pick some misleading data to make it seem like things are going well, and the good news doesn’t need an endless list of caveats, either. It’s just really good news. We’re winning. Be happy.

Data: The COVID Tracking Project, CSSE Johns Hopkins University, state health departments; Map: Andrew Witherspoon, Michelle McGhee/Axios

The U.S. has brought new coronavirus infections down to the lowest level since March 2020, when the pandemic began.

The big picture: Nearly every week for the past 56 weeks, Axios has tracked the change — more often than not, the increase — in new COVID-19 infections. Those case counts are now so low, the virus is so well contained, that this will be our final weekly map.

By the numbers: The U.S. averaged roughly 16,500 new cases per day over the past week, a 30% improvement over the week before. New cases declined in 43 states and held steady in the other seven.

The official case counts haven’t been this low since Americans went into lockdown in March last year — when the pandemic was still new, no one knew how long this would go on, and inadequate testing meant that cases were undercounted.

Overall, roughly 33 million Americans — about 10% of the population — have tested positive for COVID-19.

About 595,000 people have died from the virus in the U.S., making it deadlier for Americans than the past 80 years of wars and other armed military conflicts combined, including World War II.

The U.S. largely failed to contain the virus until the vaccines arrived. 

Cities and businesses began shutting down last March. From there, the virus rolled into a second wave last summer, when cases climbed to over 65,000 per day, on average, and hospitals in many parts of the country said they were overwhelmed.

That failure was then eclipsed in the winter, when hundreds of thousands of people per day were contracting the virus and deaths climbed over 3,000 per day for about a month.

But now, the virus really is under control, nationwide and in every state, thanks almost entirely to the vaccines. Just over half of American adults are now fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.

What’s next: Cases and deaths are still soaring around the world, especially in the developing world, and the Biden administration is facing consistently mounting pressure to export more vaccines, now that the U.S. has contained the virus.

The U.S. was never able to control the virus without vaccines, and it still can’t. The risk is still about as high as it’s ever been for unvaccinated people, as the Washington Post recently reported. An average of about 500 Americans per day are still dying from COVID-19, almost all of them unvaccinated.

There will still be some localized outbreaks in the U.S., especially in areas where relatively few people are vaccinated. But they will likely be small, and vaccinated people will be protected.

Over time, the immunity from vaccines will likely wane, which, together with new variants of the virus, will likely require booster shots to stay ahead of another outbreak.

For now, though, the U.S. has finally gotten the virus down to a level that just about every expert agrees is safe. Fewer than 20,000 cases per day, spread across the U.S. population of 331.5 million people, is a relatively low number of cases, and that number continues to improve across the board.

New York, which bore the brunt of the virus’ arrival in the U.S., is now averaging about 800 new cases per day, in a state of some 20 million people. 

Washington, D.C. has about 28 new cases per day. 

Florida has more total cases per day — about 1,800, on average — than any other state. But again, that’s spread over a state with over 20 million people, and its numbers are improving just like the rest of the country’s. Florida’s daily case counts fell by 25% just this week.

The bottom line: The vaccines work. They’ve brought cases to their lowest point yet, and because that improvement is the result of vaccines, there’s no reason to believe the virus will start gaining significant ground again any time soon. 

Cases in the U.S. are low, and they’re likely to stay low — which is why, after 56 weeks, this will be the end of our weekly map. Thank you for reading.

COVID-19 cases hit lowest point in U.S. since pandemic began

The U.S. is averaging about 16,500 cases per day, the lowest level since March 2020.

The U.S. has brought new coronavirus infections down to the lowest level since March 2020, when the pandemic began.The big picture: Nearly every week for the past 56 weeks, Axios has tracked the change — more often than not, the increase — in new COVID-19 infections. Those case counts are now so low, the virus is so well contained, that this will be our final weekly map.

Andrew Witherspoon

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