The curve of new Covid-19 cases is beginning to flatten after weeks of downward trend

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Thu, 2021-02-25 17:11 — mike kraft

After weeks of sharp declines, new Covid-19 cases are beginning to flatten After six straight weeks of declines in new Covid-19 cases in the US, that number has started to plateau, even as hospitalizations and deaths continue to drop. Eric Levenson and Christina Maxouris, CNN CNN

(CNN)After six straight weeks of declines in new Covid-19 cases in the US, that number has started to plateau, even as hospitalizations and deaths continue to drop.

The 7-day average of daily new cases was just over 72,000 on Wednesday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, a total that is relatively unchanged from last Thursday. Compare those numbers to the previous Thursday, February 11, when the US averaged about 102,000 new cases per day.

Experts say it is too soon to tell whether this one-week flattening represents a small blip or the beginning of a broader issue.

"I've been watching this and have been wondering the same thing," Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, told CNN on Thursday. "We have not seen widespread increases, but there is that flattening. We'll have to monitor this closely. The other thing we have to track is how the new variant is doing and whether that's part of the reason."

Getting infection numbers down now not only will help prevent the virus from further mutating but it will also give vaccines a better shot at remaining effective.

Meanwhile, new Covid-19 deaths and hospitalizations, which trail several weeks behind cases, have continued to sharply decline. And the two vaccines approved in the US have shown extraordinary success in limiting severe Covid-19, making the race to vaccinate so important.

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