Washington D.C, USA – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has shifted its focus away from tracking COVID-19 cases in the United States and is now concentrating on monitoring hospitalizations and deaths related to the virus, as well as vaccination rates. As a result, the CDC’s COVID Tracker no longer includes case counts, with states being urged to refer to their respective public health departments for the latest information on local COVID cases. The change comes as the public health emergency in the U.S is declared over.
CDC’s new approach involves analyzing trends in hospitalizations to gauge the virus’s activity across different regions, including individual counties. Recent data from the CDC reported a total of 18,977 new hospital admissions related to COVID in the last week, marking a 5.7% decrease from the previous week. To further understand the impact of COVID in communities, the CDC provides a County Check tool for more detailed information on local rates.
When it comes to tracking COVID deaths, the CDC no longer maintains a comprehensive count but rather relies on provisional COVID death data reported to the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) National Vital Statistics Surveillance (NVSS). As of the most recent report on February 23, 2024, there was an 11.1% decrease in deaths attributed to COVID in the U.S.
In addition to monitoring COVID hospitalizations and deaths, the CDC is actively tracking vaccination rates in the country. The CDC offers estimates on the percentage of individuals who have received COVID vaccines, including booster doses. Recent figures show that 22.3% of adults, 12.4% of children, and 12.5% of pregnant persons in the U.S. are up to date with the most recent COVID vaccine.
As new variants of the COVID virus continue to emerge, researchers are closely monitoring these changes to assess the potential threats posed by these variants. It is essential to stay informed about the latest updates on COVID-19, as the information in this article may evolve with newer data. For the most recent developments on COVID-19, stay updated on our coronavirus news page.