Reports of Covid-19 deaths begin to drop as Omicron’s growth fades rapidly

Cases and hospitalizations have already fallen sharply from record-breaking peaks, including in places like New York, New Jersey and Illinois where Omicron was widely spread late last year. Deaths, which follow cases for several weeks, appear to follow the same pattern, declining in hard-to-reach places in the early days.

“I think we’re coming down,” said Beth Blower, data lead at the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center, which compiles pandemic data.

The seven-day average of deaths in the US stood at 2,212 on Wednesday, Johns Hopkins data showed. Earlier this month, the number briefly topped 2,500, the highest level since the beginning of last year. CDC Director Rochelle Valensky said at a briefing Wednesday that similar numbers tracked by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that the average number of deaths has fallen by about 9% since the past week.

Reporting delays between states could affect mortality figures. Rapidly falling cases and hospitalizations indicate that the decline in recent deaths may be accelerating as well. The seven-day average for new cases stood at about 129,000 on Wednesday, up from a mid-January peak of 800,000, Johns Hopkins data show.

The rapidly falling numbers have prompted a flurry of steps to roll back restrictions such as mask mandates affecting school-age children in many places, including Massachusetts, New Jersey and Los Angeles County, which created restrictions through the recent boom. has kept. New York has left indoor mask requirements to businesses.

Although Omicron has shown signs of being less virulent than earlier variants, the record-breaking number of Omicron cases has fueled the rise in deaths.

The average for confirmed and suspected Covid-19 hospitalizations fell to about 81,800 as of Wednesday, federal data show, down nearly 49% from an all-time high seven-day average of above 159,000 on January 20.

In the nine-state Northeast region, the seven-day death average is about 51% lower than its late January peak, a Wall Street Journal analysis of Johns Hopkins data shows. Regionally, the death toll for the Midwest is also declining.

“We have some very promising numbers on COVID,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said on Tuesday, specifically highlighting the number of tumbling cases and hospitalizations in the state. He said the number of cases has returned to pre-omicron levels.

“We also lost 66 New Yorkers yesterday and we look forward to the day that is a void,” the governor said.

To the south, the average for the Omicron wave is still visible near the peak.

In the West, the death toll has increased recently in California, while data indicates that Nevada may have crested more recently. This reflects the pace of Omicron’s ramp-up nationwide, with some locations peaking later than others, Ms Blauer said.

In a news conference on Monday, California Health and Human Services Agency Secretary Mark Galli said the number of cases and hospitalizations in the state is decreasing.

“We anticipate in the coming weeks that the deaths will also come down,” he said.

The country’s most populous state has lost more than 80,000 people to the disease, although it has a lower death rate than other large populous states, Dr. Ghali said. Nationally, the COVID-19 death toll has risen to 928,000.

The first Omicron case was reported in the US on December 1. It was the dominant form by Christmas, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates.