U.S. COVID-19 deaths and new cases will fall over Christmas week

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(Reuters) – The United States recorded more than 15,000 COVID-19 deaths and more than 1.2 million new cases last week, although those numbers could be artificially low as a result of reporting gaps over the Christmas holidays.

PHOTO FILE: Christmas decorations can be seen outside an emergency room while health care workers carry a coronavirus-positive (COVID-19) positive patient, at Trinitas Regional Medical Center in Elizabeth, New Jersey, USA, December 16, 2020. REUTERS / Eduardo Munoz / File Photo

Recorded deaths fell 17% in the week to the end of Dec. 27 and new cases fell 16%, according to a Reuters study of state and county reports, the first decline in the two figures from the week after Thanksgiving holidays at end of November. Weekly cases and deaths have been rising since early October.

(For state interactive, state tmsnrt.rs/2WTOZDR in external browser)

According to the COVID Management Project, a volunteer-run effort to monitor pandemics, holiday reporting and reserves will “empty the many outbreaks in the country. . “

Hospitals, which are still open, may provide the most accurate data for the past week. More than 118,000 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 on Dec. 27, up 4.5% from the previous Sunday, according to data from the COVID Administration Project.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S.’s chief infectious disease officer, has warned of a possible post-holiday rise in cases. “If you look at the slope, the level of issues that we’ve experienced as we’ve gone into late winter and soon, it ‘s very sad,” he told CNN on Sunday.

Reported COVID-19 cases rose 7% in Virginia last week, the largest percentage increase in the country, according to a Reuters survey. Puerto Rico, New York and Georgia were the only other regions to report an increase.

South Dakota, Pennsylvania and Arkansas saw the most deaths per capita, with more than 8 deaths per 100,000 population.

Across the United States, 10.3% of tests came back positive for the virus, according to data from the COVID Administration Project. Twenty-seven states had positive test rates above 10%. Idaho had the highest positive test rate in the country at 52.8% followed by Iowa at 49.9%.

The World Health Organization is considering positive test rates above 5% for anxiety as it indicates that there are more cases in the community that have not yet been detected.

Graphic by Chris Canipe, edited by Tiffany Wu

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