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Our Final Week: This Week in COVID-19 Data, Mar 4

Tests are up, while cases, hospitalizations, and deaths continue their declines. We are at a crucial moment in the pandemic, with vaccinations ramping up but multiple variants of SARS-CoV-2 gaining footholds across the US. In our final weekly report, we urge continued vigilance in reducing the spread of the virus, and direct readers on how to follow the course of the pandemic without us.

Good News Despite Data Wobbles: This Week in COVID-19 Data, Feb 25

Cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are still declining, though holiday reporting and winter storms have probably caused fluctuations in several metrics. We reiterate that deaths reported each day don’t represent people who died that day—and they may even include deaths that occurred several months ago. And now is the time to switch over to federal data sources, because The COVID Tracking Project has only a little over a week of data compilation left.

More Good News: This Week in COVID-19 Data, Feb 18

Case numbers are dropping rapidly, and deaths are down 20 percent from last week. Vaccines are finally showing up in the data with dramatic declines in deaths from long-term-care facilities. We urge caution about interpreting wobbles in the data in the next week or two, given storm disruptions affecting Texas and elsewhere.

The Third Surge Continues to Ease: This Week in COVID-19 Data, Feb 11

Another week of good news: Cases and hospitalizations continue to drop nationally, and deaths are down for the second week in a row. We’re concerned about ambiguous indicators in the Northeast, and about testing declines.

The Numbers Are High but Improving: This Week in COVID-19 Data, Feb 4

Cases and hospitalizations continue to drop, and now COVID-19 deaths finally appear to be declining.

Outbreaks Ease Across the US, but Our Numbers Are Still Very High: This Week in COVID-19 Data, Jan 28

COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are dropping in almost every state—and dropping very quickly in some of our worst-hit areas. Hospitalizations are down another 10 percent but are still far above levels seen in previous surges. Deaths, which lag behind cases and hospitalizations, remain high.

Encouraging Indicators Are Everywhere, But Deaths Remain High: This Week in COVID-19 Data, Jan 21

With holiday reporting backlogs finally (mostly) behind us, we are seeing good signs in every region of the country.

Soaring Death Numbers and Highly Regional Outbreaks: This Week in COVID-19 Data, Jan 14

Deaths are 25 percent higher than any other week since the pandemic began. Arizona has the worst per-capita new case numbers in the world. A month after the country’s first vaccinations for COVID-19, we still don’t have federal data showing who is receiving the vaccine.

Record Hospitalizations Point to Trouble in California and the South: This Week in COVID-19 Data, Jan 6

The lingering effects of holiday data reporting are still making most COVID-19 metrics hard to contextualize this week. Hospitalization reporting remains relatively steady and suggests that outbreaks are lighting up across the US South. In Southern California and Arizona, the situation remains dire.

All Eyes on Hospitalizations: This Week in COVID-19 Data, Dec 30

Holiday reporting has garbled most metrics. Going by current COVID-19 hospitalizations, outbreaks in the Midwest are still easing, but every other region is in trouble.

In the Deadliest Month Yet, the Pandemic Is Regional Again: This Week in COVID-19 Data, Dec 23

Three weeks in, we’ve seen more COVID-19 deaths in December than in any other month in the US pandemic. This milestone comes as the nationwide surge in cases has subsided back into regional variation: We see positive signs throughout the Midwest but worrying indicators in the South and West. California alone reported nearly 300,000 new cases this week.

A Vaccine Arrives as Deaths Rise and Southern California Cases Soar: This Week in COVID-19 Data, Dec 17

The news this week is extremely mixed: In the Midwest, cases and hospitalizations are falling. California reported a quarter of a million cases this week, and in Los Angeles County, one in 80 people has COVID-19. More than 50,000 Black Americans have died of COVID-19 as we near 300,000 total US COVID-19 deaths. The first doses of vaccine have arrived in hospitals and on their way to most US nursing homes, where cases continue to rise.

Vaccines Begin to Arrive as Cases and Deaths Keep Rising: This Week in Long-Term Care COVID-19 Data, Dec 16

Cases are up and known deaths in long-term-care facilities are the highest they’ve been since late May.

Our Worst Week Yet: This Week in COVID-19 Data, Dec 10

Reported COVID-19 deaths hit all-time daily and weekly highs this week, and cases and hospitalizations continue to rise.

Surge Continues as Northeast and West Coast Cases Spike: This Week in Long-Term Care COVID-19 Data, Dec 9

Long-term-care facilities continue to bear the brunt of this deadly virus. The latest surge continues in the Midwest and South, as COVID-19 cases in the Northeast and West begin to spike.

Hospitalizations Break 100,000, Holiday Data Stalls Out: This Week in COVID-19 Data, Dec 3

Three of our four topline COVID-19 metrics are still recovering from data interruptions over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Meanwhile, hospitalizations are soaring.

Long-Term Care Deaths Pass 100,000 as Outbreaks Surge: This Week in Long-Term Care COVID-19 Data, Dec 2

Despite messy reporting due to the Thanksgiving holiday, this week saw continued high numbers of cases and deaths in long-term care communities. But relief may be on the way, as a CDC committee recommended that long-term care residents and staff be first in line to receive the coronavirus vaccine.

Midwest Outbreaks Pause, Hospitalizations and Deaths Keep Rising: This Week in COVID-19 Data, Nov 25

US states reported 1.2 million cases, and on three of the past seven days, the number of reported deaths exceeded 2,000. Nearly 90,000 people are hospitalized with COVID-19. After weeks of sharp rises, cases are declining in the Midwest.

One Million Cases in Seven Days: This Week in COVID-19 Data, Nov 19

Weekly cases grew 26 percent and nearly 80,000 people in the United States are hospitalized with COVID-19. That’s one-third higher than the nation’s previous record.

A Nationwide Case Surge Hits US Hospitals: This Week in COVID-19 Data, Nov 12

One in 378 US residents tested positive for COVID-19 this week, and hospitalizations have nearly doubled in the past two weeks. The United States is posting new records for cases and hospitalizations nearly every day, and healthcare systems are reaching capacity in many areas where cases have spiked.

By The COVID Tracking ProjectNovember 12, 2020

Cases Still Rising, Hospitalizations Spiking, Nursing Homes in Trouble: This Week in COVID-19 Data, Nov 5

COVID-19 is surging in large midwestern states while continuing to burn through heavily rural states in the Mountain West. Testing growth has slowed, and new outbreaks are rising in long-term care facilities. Nationally, deaths are up 8 percent, and on Wednesday the United States broke 100,000 new cases a day.

By The COVID Tracking ProjectNovember 5, 2020

Third Surge Brings Record-Breaking Case Rates Across the Nation, This Week in COVID-19 Data, Oct 29

Unlike the spring and summer outbreaks, the third surge is geographically dispersed, and counts are up in every region of the country. An increase in testing is not sufficient to explain the numbers.

By The COVID Tracking ProjectOctober 29, 2020

The Third Surge Worsens as Hospitalizations and Deaths Rise Nationwide. Plus a New Tool for Understanding Racial Data: This Week in COVID-19 Data, Oct 22

The surge in COVID-19 cases spread across the Midwest as Illinois and Indiana saw case growth alongside neighbors Wisconsin and the Dakotas. Hospitalizations rose in 39 US states, and nationally, deaths began to climb once again.

By The COVID Tracking ProjectOctober 22, 2020

The Third Surge Has Arrived. Plus, Updates on Data from Long-Term Care Facilities: This Week in COVID-19 Data, Oct 15

Fall has brought a third surge of COVID-19. The data across US regions moved in tandem this week as case and hospitalization numbers rose almost everywhere.

By The COVID Tracking ProjectOctober 15, 2020

Worrisome Data as the Weather Turns: This Week in COVID-19 Data, Oct 8

An outbreak in the White House has turned attention away from the broader outlines of the pandemic. However, cases nationally rose for the fourth consecutive week and hospitalizations have followed, causing serious strain on some states’ health care systems.

By Nadia Zonis & Peter WalkerOctober 8, 2020

Good News in the Big Picture, but Regional and Weekly Views More Troubling: This Week in COVID-19 Data, Oct 1

Cases in the Dakotas and Wisconsin continue their troubling rise, but in September the average daily number of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths fell nationwide. After a difficult summer, averaged metrics for August and September showed drops in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths at the national level. At the same time, indicators in a few states are ringing alarm bells, and this week’s data continues a three-week rise in cases, with hospitalizations starting to increase as well.

By Erin Kissane & Joanna PearlsteinOctober 1, 2020

Trends Improve Except in the Midwest: This Week in COVID-19 Data, Sep 24

The Midwest and certain Western states showed a rise in case numbers and an uptick in hospitalizations, even as other regions continued to decline. The US reported over 6 million weekly tests for the first time this year, though some states are now lumping antigen tests results into standard PCR test data.

By Peter Walker & Joanna PearlsteinSeptember 24, 2020

Holiday Reporting Lags Interrupt Positive Trends: This Week in COVID-19 Data, Sep 17

Though cases are rising in parts of the Midwest, hospitalizations in the West and South continued trending downward. The Labor Day holiday impacted data reporting lag times both this week and last, obscuring what had been positive trends in September.

By Joanna Pearlstein & Peter WalkerSeptember 17, 2020

Testing In Limbo, Hospitalizations and Deaths Still Dropping: This Week in COVID-19 Data, Sep 10

A long holiday weekend makes ambiguous testing data even harder to understand, but hospitalizations are dropping, which is good.

By Erin Kissane & Peter WalkerSeptember 10, 2020

Cases Stop Dropping and the Midwest Heats Up: This Week in COVID-19 Data, Sep 3

After five straight weeks of sharp declines in new cases of COVID-19 in the United States, we’ve leveled off again. Reported tests are up about 5 percent, but are actually dropping in the Midwest, where three states—Iowa, North Dakota, and South Dakota—are driving an uptick in new cases. This week we also launched a new dataset that looks closely at the toll of COVID-19 in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.

Testing Looks Shaky But National Progress Continues: This Week in COVID-19 Data, Aug 27

New COVID-19 cases continued their steady decline this week, a positive signal supported by a similar decline in hospitalized patients. Reported deaths also fell for the second straight week. Though testing across the US can’t seem to regain the peak of late July, we believe conditions on the ground are improving across the country—and that the data states report is, by and large, trustworthy. Read on to find out why.

By Erin KissaneAugust 27, 2020

Finally, Some Good News. This Week in COVID-19 Data, Aug 20

Key data points in our COVID-19 tracking are finally beginning to trend positively. In the South, tests rose while cases fell, a pattern not seen there since early spring. Hospitalizations fell for the third week straight, but deaths remained above 1,000 a day on average.

Tests, Cases, and Hospitalizations Keep Dropping: This Week in COVID-19 Data, Aug 13

Testing continues to fall, especially in the South, one of the areas where the country needs it the most. Cases, too, are falling, which remains hard to interpret, given the testing decline—but fewer people are now in the hospital with COVID-19 than last week. This is the second week in a row that hospitalizations seem to have dropped, which suggests that infections may be declining independently of testing reductions.

By Alexis Madrigal & Peter WalkerAugust 13, 2020

The Last Thing We Need Is Fewer Tests: This Week in COVID-19 Data, Aug 6

This week’s data marks a return to ambiguities we last saw in April and May. For the first time, we saw week-over-week testing numbers fall—and this decline makes drops in new COVID-19 case numbers difficult to interpret. Deaths continued their steady rise. And new complications like technical glitches and school reopenings threaten to cloud the picture even further.

By Peter Walker & Erin KissaneAugust 6, 2020

Cases Declining, Deaths Rising, Hospital Data Remains a Question Mark: This Week in COVID-19 Data, July 30

This week’s data brings the first good news in several weeks: new cases of COVID-19 are declining nationally, thanks to substantial declines in reported cases by states with major outbreaks. Deaths, which lag cases, continue to rise. And hospital data is still unreliable for the second week in a row.

Erratic Hospital Numbers, Deaths Still Rising: This Week in COVID-19 Data, July 23

The rise in new cases is slowing, but so is testing growth. Hospitalization data was highly erratic this week, but what we did see is alarming. Deaths are rising three weeks behind cases, which suggests a very difficult few weeks ahead for the United States.

The Unchecked Rise in Cases Turns Deadly: This Week in COVID-19 Data, July 16

The US is approaching half a million new cases of COVID-19 each week. States with major outbreaks including Arizona, California, Florida, and Texas all saw record high weekly hospitalizations and deaths. Meanwhile, worsening outbreaks in many other states threaten to increase the pandemic's death toll in the coming weeks.

By Erin Kissane & Peter WalkerJuly 16, 2020

Record New Cases, Surging Hospitalizations, Rising Deaths: This Week in COVID-19 Data, July 9

The South continues to be the epicenter of surges in both cases and hospitalizations. In Arizona, Florida, South Carolina, and Texas, COVID-19 deaths have begun to climb following jumps in new cases. And for the first time since April, deaths are rising nationally.

This Week in COVID-19 Data, July 2: Across the US, Outbreaks Are Catching Fire

The US has broken its record for new COVID-19 cases three times in the last week. Thirteen states broke their new-case records since Sunday. In the states with the worst outbreaks, hospitalizations and deaths are rising.

By Erin Kissane & Alexis MadrigalJuly 2, 2020

Weekly COVID-19 Data Update, June 25: The US Pandemic Is Surging in the South and West

The United States hit a record high for new COVID-19 cases this week. In many areas with rising case counts, testing isn’t keeping up. Meanwhile, hospitalizations in regions with big outbreaks are increasing.

By Erin Kissane & Peter WalkerJune 25, 2020

Weekly COVID-19 Data Update, June 18: The Regional Gap Widens

As cases and hospitalizations continue to drop in the early Northeast epicenters, they are rising—in some areas quite sharply—in the South and West. We look at the numbers and at the relationship between an increase in tests and a rise in case counts.

Weekly COVID-19 Data Update, June 11: Early Data from May Transmission

The news this week is mixed and highly regional. In the early US epicenter of the outbreak, cases continue to drop. In the southern and western United States, cases are on the rise, as are COVID-19 hospitalizations. And as always, the lag makes the data difficult to put into context.

By Peter Walker & Erin KissaneJune 11, 2020