Relief as new Delta cases down nearly 60 per cent in US

By Andrew Jeong and Adela SulimanUpdated October 28, 2021 â€" 7.14pmfirst published at 3.40pmNormal text sizeLarger text sizeVery large text size

Washington: New coronavirus infections in the United States have dropped nearly 60 per cent since a September spike brought on by the more contagious delta variant, according to data compiled by The Washington Post.

The seven-day average of infections stood at about 69,000 this week, figures show, reflecting a 58 per cent drop from the latest surge’s peak around September 13, when the average for that week was 164,475.

Jada Cathcart, 16, poses for a picture in front of “The Hero Monument” in New York by Italian sculptor Sergio Furnari, a symbol of hope and love dedicated to healthcare workers around the world.Credit:AP

The impact of vaccinations is clear in regions with the highest uptake.

Puerto Rico, a territory whose statistics are counted within the US national numbers, recorded a seven-day average of 1121 new cases on August 23 as it wrestled with delta; that figure had declined to 105 as of Tuesday. About 73 per cent of Puerto Ricans are immunised.

In California, Governor Gavin Newsom, who received Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine in April, got a Moderna booster shot on Wednesday. He urged eligible residents to get boosters as soon as possible, warning of the prospects of a northern winter surge in virus cases.

He pointed to data last year, when his state had a relatively low case rate in October, only to have infections triple in November and again in December.

“This is an incredibly important time,” he said at a press briefing. “We know the ticket out of this pandemic is getting these booster shots and getting the unvaccinated vaccinated. And we still have more work to do.”

California Governor Gavin Newsom gestures after receiving a Moderna COVID-19 vaccine booster shot in Oakland, California. Credit:AP

But a handful of states are still struggling to turn the tide, especially as colder weather brings more people indoors again.

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In Montana, 45 out of every 100,000 people are hospitalised due to COVID-19 â€" the highest rate in the country. Just over half the state’s population is fully vaccinated â€" below the national rate of 57.5 per cent.

Colorado, Michigan, New Mexico, Utah and Vermont also have not yet stemmed the initial increases in cases and deaths triggered by the delta variant.

But Louisiana is ending its statewide indoor mask mandate after emerging from its latest and worst coronavirus spike of the pandemic and also seeing a sharp decline in new COVID-19 infections, Governor John Bel Edwards announced. The decision marks one of the first mask mandates enacted for the delta outbreak to be scrapped.

“I stand here today optimistic, relieved that the worst of the fourth surge is very clearly behind us now,” Edwards said.

A healthcare worker injects a man with a dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine in Vieques, Puerto Rico.Credit:AP

While the Democratic governor is lifting the mask requirement for supermarkets, restaurants, bars and other sites, he’s keeping some face-covering rules in place for K-12 schools. Edwards said children had greater exposure risks, with students under 12 unable to yet get vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Edwards reinstated the mask mandate in August, when Louisiana had the country’s highest per capita COVID-19 infection growth rate and hospitals were inundated.

Since then, new cases and hospitalisations have fallen dramatically, and it now has one of the nation’s lowest rates of new infections. Still, it continues to have one of the lowest coronavirus immunisation rates in the US â€" 47 per cent of the state’s population fully vaccinated.

The United States has recorded more than 45 million coronavirus infections during the pandemic, the most in the world. More than 737,000 people have died.

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