Newly reported Covid-19 cases and deaths in the U.S. rose from a day earlier but remained below January’s highs, as hospitalizations continued to decline.
The U.S. reported 58,812 new cases Monday, according to the latest data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. That was up from 51,204 reported for Sunday and just higher than the 56,044 reported a week earlier. But the figure was still far below January’s highs that neared 300,000.
The number of newly reported cases each day is typically lower toward the beginning of the week, as fewer people are tested over the weekend.
The seven-day average of new infections, which helps smooth out irregularities in data reporting, also rose slightly to 67,760 from 67,365 on Sunday, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of Johns Hopkins data.
Public-health officials have voiced alarm at the continued high metrics.
“I remain deeply concerned about a potential shift in the trajectory of the pandemic,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said Monday, noting that seven-day averages for both cases and deaths were 2% higher than the previous seven days.
“The latest CDC data continue to suggest that recent declines in cases have leveled off at a very high number,” she said.
More than 1,500 people in the U.S. were reported to have died Monday, up from a revised 1,097 a day earlier and slightly higher than the 1,329 reported a week earlier.
Deaths, a lagging indicator, haven’t decreased as dramatically from January’s highs as have newly reported cases. The U.S. seven-day moving average of deaths reported each day was 2,046 as of Monday, according to a Journal analysis of Johns Hopkins data. The 14-day average was 1,984.
When the seven-day average is higher than the 14-day average, as it has been since Wednesday, it indicates deaths are on the rise. But the recent uptick followed three straight weeks that saw the 14-day average higher than the seven-day, indicating a decline in deaths from highs of more than 4,000 on some of January’s deadliest days.
There were 46,738 people hospitalized with Covid-19 in the U.S. as of Monday, according to the Covid Tracking Project, down from 47,352 a day before and the third day in a row that the number was below 50,000 after crossing that threshold on Nov. 3, 2020.
An initial supply of Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose Covid-19 vaccine is expected to reach states and vaccination sites as early as Tuesday, after the Food and Drug Administration’s authorization over the weekend, the Biden administration said.
The rollout of nearly four million shots, and about 20 million doses in total by the end of March, is expected to bolster the U.S. vaccination effort. As of Monday, more than 50.7 million Americans had received at least one dose of vaccine, representing about 15.3% of the population, according to the CDC. More than 25.4 million people have received their second shot.
Overall, more than 28.66 million cases have been reported in the U.S. and some 514,000 people have died, according to Johns Hopkins data. World-wide, more than 114.4 million cases have been reported and over 2.5 million people have died, the data show.