As of July 8, COVID deaths in the U.S. had dropped 20 percent from the previous week, according to CDC data.
Hospitalizations across the country have also fallen slightly, by 0.9 percent during the same timeframe.
Still, health officials continue to monitor cases and are encouraging adults to consider updating their COVID-19 booster once they become available this fall during the annual respiratory virus season.
Here are four other recent updates related to the virus:
- While both hospitalizations and deaths due to COVID are down in the U.S., other signs — including COVID wastewater monitoring and a rise in emergency department visits — are indicating there could soon be a slight nationwide increase, according to the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.
- The updated COVID-19 vaccines available this fall will be the first entirely distributed by manufacturers rather than the government. As such, the CDC and HHS have detailed plans to continue free distribution for uninsured and low-income individuals.
- Researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University's School of Medicine found in a study that a loss of smell and taste are no longer 'common' symptoms of the COVID-19 variants that are most dominantly circulating.
- A CDC report published July 14 highlighted a correlation between adolescents and young children — particularly young girls — being hospitalized for cannabis poisoning and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.