COVID-19 deaths in the US are coming down again, hospitalizations are dropping, and new cases per day are about to dip below 100,000 for the first time in two months—all signs that the summer surge is waning. Not wanting to lose momentum, government leaders and employers are looking at strengthening and expanding vaccine requirements, the AP reports. Los Angeles was poised to enact on Wednesday one of the nation's strictest vaccine mandates—a sweeping measure that would require the shots for everyone entering a bar, restaurant, nail salon, gym, or Lakers game.
Minnesota's governor this week called for vaccine and testing requirements for teachers and long-term care workers. In New York, a statewide vaccination mandate for all hospital and nursing home workers will be expanded Thursday to home care and hospice employees. Nationally, the encouraging signs involve:
- Fatalities. Deaths per day have dropped almost 15% since mid-September, to an average of about 1,750.
- Infections. New cases have fallen to just over 103,000 per day on average, a 40% decline over the past three weeks.
- Hospitalizations. The number of Americans now admitted with COVID-19 has declined by about one-quarter since the most recent peak of almost 94,000 a month ago.
The decreases have been especially sharp in several Deep South states, where cases have gone down more than twice as fast as they have nationwide. Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Arkansas all saw their case numbers cut in half over the past two weeks. What's behind the decline isn’t entirely clear, though health experts point out that the numbers are falling as more people are getting vaccinated and new requirements for the shot are being put in place by government and private employers. The decrease in case numbers could also be due to the virus running out of susceptible people in some places. Worldwide, newly reported cases fell in the last week, as well.
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Despite the encouraging direction in the US, health experts say it is no time for anyone to drop their guard, because there are far too many unvaccinated people. "This is still primarily a problem of people who are unvaccinated," said Jennifer Nuzzo, a Johns Hopkins University public health researcher. "Some of them are taking precautions, but many of them feel like they don’t need to worry." There is concern that a new wave could come during the winter when more people are indoors. Intensive care units and staff in surging areas from Alaska to New England remain stretched thin. Despite having some of the highest vaccination rates in the country, parts of New England have record caseloads, largely among the unvaccinated.
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