New COVID-19 cases in US decline while variants spread draws concern - China.org.cn

COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have declined from recent surges across the United States, but health experts warn more contagious coronavirus strains may threaten to undo progress and lead to a resurgence.

A total of 125,735 new COVID-19 cases were reported across the country on Monday, bringing the seven-day average daily increase of cases to about 144,000, according to data updated by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday.

It was down about 42 percent from a peak of almost 250,000 new cases per day last month.

Hospitalizations nationwide have also dropped. There were 92,880 people hospitalized with COVID-19 across the United States as of Tuesday, according to The COVID Tracking Project.

"Compared to last week, the number of people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 is down by 10 percent or more in 38 states," said the tracking project.

The CDC recorded 1,876 new daily deaths nationwide on Monday. The seven-day average deaths declined more than 10 percent from last week in 25 states. Only nine states saw an increase of 10 percent or more in the same time frame, according to the tracking project.

As daily new deaths lag cases and hospitalizations by a few weeks, health experts expect that figure will start to fall in the near future as well.

Since Jan. 1, more than 100,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 so far, according to Johns Hopkins University data.