The average daily death toll from COVID-19 has dropped nearly 20 percent in the U.S. in the past week – even as the average number of new cases and hospitalizations has risen, officials said Wednesday.
An average of 745 people died a day between March 30 and April 5 – down 19.7 percent from the previous week’s 928 people, said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. , in a press briefing at the White House.
The decline in deaths has occurred as vaccination rates have continued to rise across the country – with about 3 million people now receiving shots a day in the US, she said.
“I am encouraged by the low number of deaths,” Walensky said. “Although these vaccination rates are incredible and so encouraging for all of us, the trends are growing both in the number of cases and in hospitalizations.”
The average number of daily coronavirus cases rose 2.3 percent from 62,058 to 63,479 last week, according to the CDC.
And the average number of daily hospitalizations also increased by 2.7%, from 4,949 to 5,082 in the same period.
Walensky attributed some of these cases to younger Americans, many of whom are among the last to be vaccinated.
“It simply came to our notice then [virus] clusters associated with day centers and youth sports. Hospitals are seeing more and more younger adults – those between the ages of 30 and 40 admitted with severe illnesses, ”Walensky said. “We must continue to vaccinate as many Americans as possible.”
Recent data from Johns Hopkins University shows that nearly half of the nation’s new COVID-19 cases are concentrated in five US states – including New York, which had the most new infections across the country last week.
As of Wednesday, 76 percent of seniors and 80 percent of teachers or child care workers have received at least one vaccination, she said.
Overall, 32 percent of all adults in the United States received at least one stroke, according to the CDC data tracking website.
More than 556,000 people in the United States have died from COVID-19.