US COVID-19 Hospitalizations Lowest Since November 25

Thursday, U.S. COVID-19 hospitalizations fell to the lowest level since November 25.

Only 88,668 people are currently admitted in U.S. hospitals with coronavirus infection. Out of this, 17918 patients are admitted in Intensive Care Units. The numbers, which reached a peak of 132,474 on January 6, has been consistently dropping for more than two weeks.

With 3,705 new deaths reporting in the country, the national total rose to 455,869, as per latest data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The total U.S. cases rose to 26,679,554. The 7-day average cases are down nearly 50 percent since their peak on Jan 12. For the first time in several weeks, 7-day averages for COVID-19 cases have not exceeded 20000 in any state.

Out of nearly 1.70 million people who were tested for coronavirus on Wednesday, only 7.63 percent were diagnosed with the disease.

Anti-Covid vaccinations appear to be speeding up. A total of 35,203,710 doses were administered and 57,489,675 doses were distributed until Thursday.

Meanwhile, seeing a downward trend in Covid-19 hospitalizations and cases, some states have started easing restrictions. Rhode Island decided to allow indoor dining with half the capacity.

All businesses, including restaurants, in Massachusetts, will be allowed to operate within 40 capacity. New Jersey eased indoor gathering limits and the 10 p.m. curfew for restaurants.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday that more than 600 cases of coronavirus variants have been identified across 33 states in the country so far. Most of these cases are the strand originally detected in the United Kingdom. The highest number of such cases are detected in Florida (187) and California (145).

The US Food and Drug Administration’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee will meet on February 26 to discuss Johnson & Johnson’s request for emergency use authorization of its single-shot coronavirus vaccine.

The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington forecast that US Covid-19 deaths will exceed 630,000 by June.

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