The daily coronavirus death toll in the US is at its lowest level in months as the country speeds up vaccine delivery. At the same time, outbreaks in states like Michigan are fueling fears of another nationwide surge in Covid-19.
US Covid cases
About 63,280 new coronavirus cases are reported in the United States every day, according to a 7-day average of data collected by Johns Hopkins University. The number of cases has been picking up again recently after falling sharply for months in January highs.
The growth of new cases is showing signs of plateauing after a small number of new cases reported for Sunday, but many states haven’t reported data because of Easter. It will likely take a few days for the holiday weekend case to be reported and death numbers reported and collected. From this point on, the recent direction of the outbreak becomes clearer.
Michigan, where the average daily new cases are up 39% from a week ago, has the worst per capita outbreak in the country. The state’s seven-day average of nearly 6,500 new cases per day is approaching the level of the winter surge, when the number of cases there peaked averaging 8,300 per day.
Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a former commissioner for the Food and Drug Administration, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Monday that the recent surge in Michigan and other states such as Minnesota and Massachusetts had multiple causes. The spread of virus variants, colder climates making it harder to congregate outdoors, the reopening of schools and increased mobility among residents all contribute to the spread, Gottlieb said.
He does not expect these factors to lead to a nationwide spike in new cases.
“I don’t think this will be the beginning of a real fourth wave,” said Gottlieb. “I think these will be regionalized outbreaks, and hopefully we’ll get beyond that as we vaccinate more.”
US Covid deaths
The daily US Covid death toll is 797 based on a weekly average from Hopkins data. While that number is still up, it is at its lowest level since late October.
US vaccine shots administered
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a daily record of 4.1 million vaccinations given on Saturday, and more than 3 million vaccination shots were given in each of the past four days.
The 7-day average of recordings made in the US is now just over 3 million per day.
US percentage of the vaccinated population
According to CDC data, more than 165 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccines have been administered in the US.
Almost a third of the population has received at least one dose, and 18.5% of Americans are fully vaccinated.
Of those 65 year olds and older, 75% received at least one dose and 55% are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
Disclosure: Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC employee and a member of the boards of directors of Pfizer, genetic testing startup Tempus, health technology company Aetion Inc., and biotech company Illumina. He is also co-chair of the Healthy Sail Panel for Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and Royal Caribbean.
