US Covid-19 cases below 50k for 7 days

Washington, Aug 23 The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 46,754 new Covid-19 cases, marking the seventh consecutive day the daily count fell below 50,000 since August 16.

It is the first time that daily cases have dropped under 50,000 for a whole week since summer outbreaks in July, reports Xinhua news agency.

"I think we're seeing progress over the last four weeks, I hope that progress will continue, but I think none of us should turn away from the recognition that it's key each of us recognize we want to make sure Covid-19 stops with us," Xinhua news agency quoted CDC Director Robert Redfield as saying.

"This week, for the first time in more than two months, all our major COVID-19 metrics improved at the same time," said a new report of The Covid-19 Tracking Project on Saturday.

Tests rose as cases fell - a strong indication that the virus transmission across the country may be decreasing, according to the report.

Hospitalizations fell for the third week straight, but deaths remained above 1,000 a day on average.

Nationally, the number of infected peoplein the hospital is down more than 27 per cent from the peak on July 23, said the report.

Amid positive trend at the national level, experts remain concerned that many Midwestern states, including Iowa, Kansas, Illinois, North Dakota and South Dakota, are witnessing a rise in cases.

There are more than 10 states reporting growing cases, based on a seven-day moving average to smooth out daily reporting, according to a CNBC analysis.

The decline of new cases came as universities and schools across the US grapple with returning students to the classroom safely.

So far, at least three dozen states have reported coronavirus cases on college campuses, according to an ABC News report.

As of Sunday morning, the total number of cases in the US stood at 5,666,121, while the fatalities rose to 176,345, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

The two tallies currently account for the world's highest, making the US the worst-affected country globally.

( With inputs from IANS )