Coronavirus deaths in the United States have dropped below an average of 1,000 per day for the first time in almost a month as the number of daily infections across the country continues to decline.
The number of Americans dying from COVID-19, based on an average of seven days, was 981 on Sunday.
It marks the first time the cause of death has fallen below 1,000 to plateau for the past three weeks.
Deaths are a lagging indicator and could potentially rise several weeks after new cases begin to decline.
While still high, the current daily death toll in the US remains below the levels seen in April when an average of 2,000 people per day died from COVID-19.
Meanwhile, the number of infections in the U.S. has continued on a declining trajectory more than a month after spiking in the Sunbelt states in June and July.
The average number of cases per day was 42,600 on Sunday.
The average number of Americans who died from COVID-19 was 981 on Sunday. It marks the first time that deaths, based on an average of seven days, have fallen below 1,000 to plateau for the past three weeks
The number of infections in the US has continued for more than a month on a declining trajectory after spike in the Sunbelt states in June and July. The average number of cases per day was 42,600 on Sunday
The month-long nationwide decline in cases is mainly due to the major episode in the hotspot states of California, Arizona, Florida and Texas, after infections peaked in mid-July.
Cases are still rising in a handful of states including South Dakota, North Dakota, Iowa, Illinois, Hawaii, Wyoming and Maine.
The increases in new infections in these states are not enough to reflect an uptick in national trends and are well below the figures reported in the populated hotspot states of California, Florida, Texas and Arizona.
Coronavirus infections in the US have now dropped to 5.7 million and more than 176,800 have died from COVID-19 since the pandemic began.
The month-long nationwide decline in cases is mainly due to the major episode in the hotspot states of California, Arizona, Florida and Texas, after infections peaked there in mid-July.
The hotspot states, as well as others with high infection rates across the country, implemented all mitigation measures around July in a bid to stop the spread of the virus.
Of the hotspot states that drive the national infection case, California and Texas implemented statewide mask mandates when they were in public.
In the absence of statewide orders, some Florida and Arizona counties have required residents to wear masks.
All four hotspot states shut down bars and all but Florida were forced to close gyms as well.
The current decline in deaths and cases comes a month after President Donald Trump, who for months refused to wear a mask in public, is urging Americans to cover their faces in public to stop the spread.
Of the hotspot states that are declining the national infection rate, Texas implemented statewide mask mandates when they were in public and ordered all bars to close when cases began to grow in June
California also ordered a statewide mask mandate when infections began to grow in mid-June. Gov. Gavin Newsom also ordered bars and gyms to close. Infections in California began to split in mid-August due to a backlog of tests caused by technical glitches that the state says have now been removed
Florida does not have a statewide mask mandate, but some cities have forced their own orders. Bars were forced to close across the state in June following the rise in infections. Health experts say these mitigation measures are why cases and deaths are now declining
Arizona does not have a state mask mandate, but counties were allowed to maintain their own measures. Bars and gyms were ordered to close when there was an uptick of infections in June. Cases, hospitalizations and deaths have meanwhile dropped sharply in the state of hotspot
CDC Director Robert Redfield had just days predicted that deaths would begin to decrease this week, saying it was a direct result of mitigation measures such as wearing masks and closing bars in hotspot states.
Redfield said it can often take weeks before the effects of those measures are reflected in daily figures due to the lag between deaths and positive tests.
“It is important to understand that these interventions have a delay, that delay will be three to four weeks,” he said in an interview with the Journal of the American Medical Association last Thursday.
Redfield notes that southern states, which are hardest hit amid the pandemic, see a progressive drip in cases.
Health experts in some of these southern states have also linked the drop-off in cases to mitigation measures that are in place.
In Florida, much of the summer uprising occurred in infections especially among teens and young adults who are less likely to be hospitalized and die from the virus.
Cases are still rising in a handful of states including South Dakota, North Dakota, Iowa, Illinois, Hawaii, Wyoming and Maine. The increases in new infections in these states are not enough to reflect an uptick in national trends
However, experts had warned that younger people could continue to infect their parents as relatives at risk, which could explain the increasing death toll in Florida last month.
Dr. Mary Jo Trepka, chair of the Department of Epidemiology at Florida International University, gave the closing of the barn and local mask mandates for credit, reports the New York Times.
Dr. Jo Gerald, who works on public health policy at the University of Arizona, said the huge decline in cases and deaths in Arizona was a direct result of mask assignments, closing bars and gyms and additional news coverage of the risks.
In South Carolina, cities that mandated mask mandates saw a 50 percent decrease in cases where those who do not require residents to wear face masks in public, the state health department said.
However, health experts have warned Americans not to become suicidal because even if COVID-19 infections continue to fall, they are still the highest in the world.
“We actually have 50 lab experiments at the moment, and each state has a slightly different policy approach,” said Dr. Gerald.
‘If we become suicidal, this thing could get out of control again. And we will have even less safety margin to manage it, because we are starting from a higher place. ‘
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