Coronavirus Hospitalizations In U.S. Decline For First Time Since June

TOPLINE

Coronavirus hospitalizations in the U.S. have fallen for the first time in the month of July, according to data from The COVID Tracking Project, as hard-hit states like Arizona and Texas are beginning to show signs of improvement when it comes to hospitalizations, even as the nation's coronavirus epicenter, Florida, has shown little sign of a turnaround.

KEY FACTS

Coronavirus hospitalizations in the U.S. dropped from 57,705 on Friday to 57,562 on Saturday, according to The COVID Tracking Project -the first national decline since June 28.

Coronavirus hospitalizations in Arizona are now at their lowest point in over two weeks, and Texas has reported a decline in hospitalizations three out of the past five days.

Both of the states also have had a gradual drop in the testing positivity rate, seen as a key indicator of whether coronavirus spread is increasing.

But Texas did report a new record high in coronavirus deaths on Friday, with Arizona following on Saturday, though deaths tend to lag behind earlier spikes in infections and then hospitalizations.

There is still little indication that Florida's crisis has peaked.

Hospitalizations have continued to rise in the state, and there were 48 hospitals that reported ICUs were at capacity Sunday afternoon.

KEY BACKGROUND

Coronavirus cases are continuing to spike across the U.S., as they have been for well over a month, and the 5-day average for new confirmed cases is now over 70,000 per day, according to Johns Hopkins University-by far the highest any country has reported throughout the pandemic. That surge has been led by Florida, which has reported new daily case counts higher than even the top days that New York reported during the first major American coronavirus surge in March and April.

BIG NUMBER

40 - That's how many states are dealing with an increasing rate of new coronavirus cases, according to data from The New York Times. Those increases are usually followed by a rise in hospitalizations and eventually deaths, meaning it's possible the current decline might quickly reverse.

FURTHER READING

Florida Shatters National Record With Over 15,000 New Coronavirus Cases (Forbes)

I'm a New Orleans-based news reporter for Forbes covering the U.S. South and breaking news. Previously, I wrote for The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate covering

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