The coronavirus surge that swept across the south and west of the US is showing signs of slowing, a sign that steps taken by states to pause their reopenings may have helped suppress a summer spike in cases. On August 9, the US became the first country in the world to confirm 5m cases of Covid-19. Since then, the seven-day average of new infections has fallen by 21 per cent to 42,250 a day. As of Monday, the average number of daily deaths dipped below 1,000 for the first time in a month.
The summer wave has been driven in large part by a big increase in cases in the three most populous states – California, Texas and Florida – all of which have now tallied more than 500,000 infections apiece. Although daily fatalities remain elevated, new cases and hospitalizations have been trending lower.
The plateau in cases in the US sunbelt has been reflected elsewhere in the country. So far in August, the average number of new cases in 41states is lower than at the end of July, according to a Financial Times analysis of Covid Tracking Project data.
That marks a dramatic reversal from July, when only five states managed to bring down the average number of new cases below where it stood at June 30.
The early signs of progress have led some states to loosen the restrictions they put into place to keep a lid on case numbers. New York removed Arizona – another summer sunbelt hotspot – from its travel advisory list along with four other states, easing restrictions on visitors from those regions.