Passengers with a face mask can be seen at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, United States, February 2, 2021. [Photo/Xinhua]
WASHINGTON – COVID-19 cases and hospitals have declined from a recent rise across the United States, but health experts warn that more infectious coronavirus rays could threaten progress and cause relapse .
A total of 125,735 new COVID-19 cases were reported nationwide on Monday, bringing the average seven-day daily increase of cases to about 144,000, according to data updated by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Tuesday.
It was down about 42 percent from a peak of nearly 250,000 new cases per day last month.
Hospitals across the country have also collapsed. 92,880 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 across the United States as of Tuesday, according to the COVID Administration Project.
“Compared to last week, the number of people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 is down 10 percent or more in 38 states,” the tracking project said.
The CDC recorded 1,876 new daily deaths nationwide on Monday. Average seven-day deaths declined more than 10 percent from last week in 25 states. Only nine states saw an increase of 10 percent or more in the same timeframe, according to the tracking project.
As new daily deaths weaken cases and hospitalization by a few weeks, health experts expect that figure to start falling soon as well.
A passenger with a face mask can be seen at Washington Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, United States, February 2, 2021. [Photo/Xinhua]
As of Jan. 1, more than 100,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 to date, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
In Los Angeles County, the most populous county in the United States, the COVID-19 death toll rose above the 17,000 mark Tuesday, although daily affairs appeared to be declining.
Local public health officials have warned that the pandemic could rise again if people become complacent and stop adhering to health restrictions, especially with the recent reopening of more businesses and a Super Bowl scheduled for Sunday .
Joe Biden’s administration announced Tuesday that it was moving to expand access to COVID-19 vaccines, freeing up more doses for states and starting rolling them out to pharmacies next week.
As part of the U.S. Federal Retail Pharmacy Program, CVS and Walgreens chains will begin delivering vaccines starting next week. The White House registered 21 national pharmacy chains participating in the first phase of the program.
The push came as a new emergency to speed up vaccinations to stop the spread of potentially more infectious strains of coronavirus.
A total of 546 cases of infection with coronavirus mutations were reported in at least 33 U.S. states as of Tuesday, according to CDC data.
The majority of these cases, 541, were caused by the variant known as B.1.1.7, which was first detected in Britain.
Three cases of a new strain were first detected in South Africa, known as B.1.351, and two cases of the P.1 strain were first detected in Brazil.
Beginning Tuesday, Americans must wear face masks while traveling on domestic public transportation as part of a national strategy to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The mask wearing rule, which went into effect at 11:59 pm Monday (0459 GMT Tuesday), denies refusing to wear a mask violates federal law, enforced by the Transportation Security Administration and federal, state authorities and other local.