California, which previously updated its cumulative case and death numbers every weekday, now does so only twice a week. In Florida, case and death data are released only once every two weeks. Just last week, many public testing sites closed AlaskaAnd the Colorado And the Rhode Island; Iowa Close Many more sites by the end of next week.
Recent virus numbers have spiked around holidays such as Memorial Day and UNITA Ten, with many states often pausing reporting and then retracing, a trend that is sure to continue this week, after the 4th of July weekend.
“Keeping up the number of daily tests is less informative than it used to be,” Dr. Adalja said, noting the close link between cases and hospitalizations in the past. He added that today’s numbers should not be treated like checking the standings or the daily results of a sports team.
“I think testing plays a different role,” he said. “Even when the test was at a different point, it was always an understatement.”
To get a local look at how the virus is working, Dr. Adjala said it has come to rely on hospitalization as a percentage of its capacity. It also verifies the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention community level tracker, which includes new hospital admissions and the number of beds used. He urges shifting the focus to severe illness, rather than tracking “boom and bust periods of cases.”
The number of hospitalizations increased slightly throughout June, although it remains low. Just over 33,000 people in US hospitals are infected with the coronavirus on average each day, and less than 4,000 are in intensive care. Reports of new deaths remain below 400 per day, down from the country’s peak daily death toll of more than 3,300 in January 2021.
Lisa and AnnanAnd the Kristen Chong And the Alain Delacerrier Contribute to the preparation of reports.
