Coronavirus deaths in US have fallen by 42% over last two weeks – but cases have only dropped 9%

Coronavirus deaths have dramatically fallen in the United States over the past few weeks, but cases seem to have plateaued.

Over the last two weeks, COVID-19-related fatalities have fallen from a seven-day rolling average of 1,752 deaths to 1,001 deaths, representing a 42 percent decline, a DailyMail.com analysis of Johns Hopkins University data showed.

By comparison, infections have dropped over the past 14 days from a seven-day rolling average of 58,589 to 52,935, a modest nine percent decrease, the analysis found.

On Tuesday, the U.S. recorded 52,878 cases and 894 deaths.

Public health experts have said that deaths are a lagging indicator and that they are finally beginning to drop dramatically just as infections were a few weeks prior.

Some U.S. states have finally seen a drop in coronavirus cases after holding steady for several months, including California and Texas.

But at least 21 states are experiencing a rise, such as Spring Break haven Florida, where infections among the aged 24 to 49 bracket are surging.

What’s more, the majority of states in the Northeast have a case-rate higher than the national average, in some areas more than double. 

‘I continue to be worried about the latest data and the apparent stall we are seeing in the trajectory of the pandemic,’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Dr Rochelle Walensky said at a press briefing on Wednesday.

‘Decisions we make now will determine how the pandemic looks in the days and weeks ahead. If we choose to invest in prevention right now, we will come back out of this pandemic faster and with fewer lives lost.’

Coronavirus deaths have fallen 42% over the last two weeks from a seven-day rolling average of 1,752 deaths to 1,001 deaths

Cases in the U.S. have declined just 9% from from a seven-day rolling average of 58,589 new infections to 52,935 new cases

Cases in the U.S. have declined just 9% from from a seven-day rolling average of 58,589 new infections to 52,935 new cases

At least 21 states are experiencing a rise in cases, with six of the 10 states with the highest seven-day case rates in the north Atlantic region

At least 21 states are experiencing a rise in cases, with six of the 10 states with the highest seven-day case rates in the north Atlantic region 

After several weeks of rising coronavirus case rates, California is currently experiencing a decline. 

According to the Los Angeles Times, The Golden State has reported an average of 2,766 new cases per day. This is drop of 35 percent from the seven-day rolling average reported two weeks ago. 

Across the state, about 2,500 patients were hospitalized, which is a figure not seen since the start of the pandemic.

What’s more, as of Wednesday, California’s seven-day case rate per 100,000 people was among the lowest in the nation at 46.8 per 100,000.

Only three states, Arizona, Hawaii and Oregon, has lower case rates.    

However, officials warned that the pandemic is not over yet so residents must not let their guard down and forego masks or social distancing.

‘This past year indicates that often the East Coast experiences increases in cases before the West Coast and that, typically, LA County is a few weeks behind New York,’ Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer told the county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, according to the Times. 

‘While conditions have definitely changed, particularly as we’ve vaccinated millions of individuals over the past three months, we do not yet have enough vaccine protection across the county to prevent more transmission if we’re not extraordinarily careful in these next few weeks.’

Meanwhile, in Dallas, Texas, the city has lowered the COVID threat level to ‘moderate risk’ for the  first time since October as Parkland Memorial Hospital closed its virus intensive care units on Tuesday.

Cases have dropped significantly in California, with the seven-day case rate per 100,000 people was among the lowest in the nation at 46.8 per 100,000.

Cases have dropped significantly in California, with the seven-day case rate per 100,000 people was among the lowest in the nation at 46.8 per 100,000.

In Florida's tourist destinations such as Miami and Orlando, infections are spiking among the 24 to 49 age group, which experts say is linked to Spring Break. Pictured: Tourist walking down Ocean Drive during Spring Break in Miami Beach, Florida, March 22

In Florida’s tourist destinations such as Miami and Orlando, infections are spiking among the 24 to 49 age group, which experts say is linked to Spring Break. Pictured: Tourist walking down Ocean Drive during Spring Break in Miami Beach, Florida, March 22

Meanwhile, in Florida, while cases overall have held steady, a larger percentage of tests coming back positive are in residents under age 50 in tourist areas such as Miami and Orlando.

According to the Miami Herald, in Miami-Dade County, that number of cases among adults aged 25 to 49 rose from 450 per day to 550 per day over the last week, about half the total number of cases.

In Hillsborough County, where Tamp is located, the average of new cases in that same age bracket has jumped from 120 per to day to 155 per day over the last two weeks.

Over the same time period in Orange County – home to Orlando – the average of daily cases has surged from 110 per day to 150 per day, the Herald found.

Dr Eric Toner, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told the newspaper that he believe the upward swing in case are likely ‘related to tourism and activities in the beach communities.’

‘Not so much being on the beach itself, but being in the bars and the restaurants and having parties, congregating in large numbers of people,’ Toner told the Herald. 

‘That’s a recipe for creating an epidemic, so I suspect that’s what we’re seeing.’  

New Jersey's seven-day case rate per 100,000 people is among the highest in the nation at 319.2 infections per 100,000

New Jersey’s seven-day case rate per 100,000 people is among the highest in the nation at 319.2 infections per 100,000

In Connecticut, the seven-day case rate is one of the 10 highest rates in the country, sitting at 184.1 per 100,000 people

In Connecticut, the seven-day case rate is one of the 10 highest rates in the country, sitting at 184.1 per 100,000 people

Additionally, Northeastern states are seeing a significant rise in cases.

Of the 10 states with the highest level of new coronavirus cases per capita over the past week, six are in the north Atlantic region, a DailyMail.com analysis shows.

As of Wednesday, New Jersey’s seven-day case rate per 100,000 people is among the highest in the nation at 319.2 per 100,000, according to the CDC.  

According to New Jersey Advance Media, COVID-19 hospitalizations have surpassed 2,000 in the state for the first time in a month.

In neighboring Connecticut, the seven-day case rate sits at 184.1 per 100,000 people. By comparison, the national case rate is currently 116.1 cases per 100,000.

Although the number of COVID-19 infections are below the winter surge, cases and test positivity rates have been increasing over the last few weeks.

‘This is no time for us to relax,’ Governor Ned Lamont said on Monday. 

‘We are looking at New York, we are looking at Massachusetts, things that ticked up a little bit there. Like I’ve said before, I am a little less anxious about the positivity rate unless I saw a big ramp up.’