For the second consecutive week, long-term care facilities reported the highest virus death toll since The COVID Tracking Project began collecting data last May, with more than 7,000 resident and staff deaths.
The number of known deaths reported for the week beginning Jan. 8 may include backlogged figures from the holidays, and were also affected by a change in Iowa's death reporting that increased that state's figures.
On the other hand, new cases are down about 15,000 from the prior week. It is unclear whether case data has fully normalized from the reporting backlogs, but next week's data should reveal if the drop indicates a real improvement.