COVID-19 Data Dispatch

Tag: March data

  • National Numbers, March 14

    National Numbers, March 14

    In the past week (March 6 through 12), the U.S. reported about 382,000 new cases, according to the CDC. This amounts to:

    • An average of 55,000 new cases each day
    • 117 total new cases for every 100,000 Americans
    • 1 in 858 Americans getting diagnosed with COVID-19 in the past week
    Nationwide COVID-19 metrics as of March 12, sourcing data from the CDC and HHS. Posted on Twitter by Conor Kelly.

    Last week, America also saw:

    • 34,200 new COVID-19 patients admitted to hospitals (10 for every 100,000 people)
    • 10,300 new COVID-19 deaths (3.1 for every 100,000 people)
    • An average of 2.5 million vaccinations per day (per Bloomberg)

    Note: Since the COVID Tracking Project ceased data collection last Sunday, March 7, I am now using CDC data for these updates. I’m primarily relying on the agency’s COVID Data Tracker Weekly Review reports.

    The Johnson & Johnson vaccine has fully dropped—not just in the arms of millions of Americans, but also on state vaccine dashboards. When I updated the CDD’s vaccination data annotations yesterday, I noticed that several states had switched from labeling their shots as “first dose” and “second dose” to labeling them as “first dose” and “completed series,” or something similar. Since the J&J vaccine is only one dose, a single shot from this manufacturer could launch you right into that “completed series” category.

    However you label them, the U.S. is now vaccinating about 2.5 million people per day. One in four adults has received at least their first shot. And we crossed the 100-million dose mark on Friday, far earlier than President Biden’s 100-day goal. Meanwhile, cases, deaths, and hospitalizations continue to decline.

    These numbers have inspired some guarded optimism, at least on the part of the federal government. On Thursday, Biden announced that he’s directing all states, tribes, and territories to make all adults eligible for vaccination by May 1. Alaska became the first state to reach that milestone this week.

    Of course, there’s a big difference between making people eligible and actually getting shots in arms. But vaccine hesitancy is reportedly dropping, as Americans see their family members and friends safely get inoculated. One new poll from NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist shows that 73% of Black people and 70% of white people said they’re either planning to get vaccinated or have received a shot already.

    Variants also continue to be a concern (see Sarah’s section later in this issue). But it’s hard to argue with the fact that millions of our family members, friends, and neighbors are now protected from COVID-19, with more people getting vaccinated every day.

    more national numbers
  • National numbers, March 7

    National numbers, March 7

    In the past week (February 28 through March 6), the U.S. reported about 417,000 new cases, according to the COVID Tracking Project. This amounts to:

    • An average of 60,000 new cases each day—comparable to the seven-day average for daily cases in early August
    • 127 total new cases for every 100,000 Americans
    • 1 in 786 Americans getting diagnosed with COVID-19 in the past week
    Nationwide COVID-19 metrics published in the COVID Tracking Project’s daily update on March 6. This will be the final week we use Project data for these updates.

    Last week, America also saw:

    • 41,400 people now hospitalized with COVID-19 (13 for every 100,000 people)
    • 12,100 new COVID-19 deaths (3.7 for every 100,000 people)
    • An average of 2.2 million vaccinations per day (per Bloomberg)

    The U.S. recorded fewer new daily cases this week than last week, finally dropping to a level lower than the summer surge. We saw fewer hospitalized COVID-19 patients and deaths from the disease this week as well. But the possibility of a plateau—or even a variant-driven fourth surge—is worrying some experts. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky has cited this concern in press briefings over the past week, encouraging that Americans “double down on prevention measures.”

    Dr. Walensky’s assertion is backed up by a new CDC report that links mask mandates and dining restrictions to reduced community spread. (We knew this already, of course, but it’s always nice to have a CDC report you can cite.)

    Variants, meanwhile, continue to spread. We’re up to 2,600 reported B.1.1.7 cases, though this and other variant counts are likely significantly underreported. Nature’s Ewen Callaway calls attention to variant reporting issues in a recent story: despite national efforts to ramp up sequencing, the practice is still heavily decentralized in the U.S., with heavily-resourced states like New York and California sequencing thousands of genomes while other states collect far fewer. And “homegrown” variants of concern, such as the variant reportedly spreading through New York City, don’t even appear on the CDC’s dashboard yet.

    But vaccinations give us one place to be optimistic. More than two million Americans are now getting a dose each day, per Bloomberg, with the first Johnson & Johnson shots landing on the market this week. After the announcement of a cross-pharma partnership (Merck giving J&J a manufacturing boost), President Biden said that the U.S. will have enough COVID-19 vaccine doses for every adult by the end of May. How quickly—and how equitably—those doses get administered will be another battle. 

    Finally, a sad acknowledgment: with the COVID Tracking Project concluding data collection today, I will be switching my source for these updates starting next week. I plan to use CDC and HHS data, relying heavily on the CDC’s new COVID Data Tracker Weekly Reviews. More on filling the CTP-shaped hole in your data in the next section.

    more national numbers