CDC director: We are moving in the right direction

At the beginning of today’s Covid-19 briefing, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky touted encouraging numbers in declining new cases, deaths, and hospital admissions, but also offered a note of caution. 

“We continue to see trends head in the right direction, but cases, hospital admissions, and deaths remain at very high levels,” Walensky said. 

New cases, according to Walensky, have declined steadily for five weeks, with the current seven-day average down 74% from its peak on January 11. Today’s seven-day average, Walensky said, is now at 66,000 cases per day and is comparable to last summer’s peak. 

As far as new hospital admissions go, today’s seven-day average of 6,500 marks a 60% decline from a peak on January 9 and is the lowest rate of new hospital admissions since last fall.

At 1,900 deaths per day, the seven-day average of deaths is down 39% from the prior seven-day average, making it the lowest that number has been since the beginning of December. 

Still, Walensky noted, “This seven-day average is counterbalanced by the stark reality that this week, we will surpass one half million Covid-19 deaths in the United States, a truly tragic reminder of the enormity of this pandemic, and the loss it has afflicted on our personal lives and our communities.”

“While the pandemic is heading in the right direction there is still much work to do,” she added.