WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - New coronavirus cases and deaths due to the pandemic in the United States fell significantly at the weekend after witnessing a surge in both COVID metrics over the rest of the week.
Only 487 new coronavirus deaths were reported in the country on Sunday. This is less than half of the 7-day average of 990.
Likewise, 45552 new cases were reported in the country on the same day, which is sharply lower than the weekly average of 63199.
With this, the national total of COVID cases increased to 30262379, according to latest data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
The U.S. COVID death toll rose to 549335.
The significant fall in both COVID metrics concurrently reflected state-wise.
California and Texas, the two worst-affected states, together accounted for only 177 deaths, while most cases were reported in New York. New York also crossed the 50000 mark in deaths on Sunday.
President Joe Biden said the reason for the recent surge in COVID cases is because 'people are letting their guard down.'
Responding to a reporter's question at Delaware Air National Guard Base, Biden said, 'Based on what I'm hearing, apparently people are letting their guard down'. He added that he is having a meeting with the White House COVID Response Team on Monday, and he will get 'a better sense' about the situation then.
Things like Spring Break and pulling back on the mitigation methods are behind COVID cases going up in the country, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the United States National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that about 143 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine have so far been administered in the United States.
More than 28 percent of the U.S. population have received at least one dose of vaccine, and 15.5 percent of the population have been fully vaccinated.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization reportedly concluded that the coronavirus disease most likely passed to humans from a bat through another animal.
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that a long-awaited report into the origins of the virus will be officially released on Tuesday.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX