NEW YORK, Feb 2 (NNN-AGENCIES) — New cases of COVID-19 in the United States fell for a third week in a row, the first time the country has seen such an extended decline since last September, though more than a million people are still being infected every week.
New cases in the seven days ended Jan 31 fell 9 per cent from the previous week to 1.1 million, with only four out of 50 states reporting rises, namely Louisiana, Washington, Pennsylvania and Montana.
Deaths from the virus rose 5 per cent last week to 22,751, or an average of 3,250 people each day. January was the deadliest month of the pandemic so far in the United States, with nearly 96,000 lives lost.
Deaths are a lagging indicator, meaning they can increase weeks after cases and hospitalisations fall.
Cumulatively, nearly 442,000 people have died from the novel coronavirus, or one in every 740 US residents.
The average number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals fell 13per cent from the previous week to about 103,000, according to data from the volunteer-run COVID Tracking Project.
Nationally, 8.7 per cent of tests came back positive for the virus, down from 9.2 per cent the prior week and the lowest since the week ended Nov 8, according to data from the COVID Tracking Project.
The lowest positive test rates were in Hawaii at 1.5 per cent and Wyoming at 1.7 per cent, and the highest were Alabama at 34.1 per cent and Iowa at 33.7 per cent. — NNN-AGENCIES
