The United States’ coronavirus death rate is still roughly at a pandemic-low, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended Tuesday that vaccinated individuals and children wear masks indoors.
According to Google’s coronavirus tracking system on July 26, 275 people are dying from the virus on a seven day average, while overall infection cases are rising.
Around the high of coronavirus deaths on January 20, when President Joe Biden took office, 3,056 people were dying on a seven day average.
Since January, coronavirus deaths have steadily decreased – presumably due to the vaccine developed under the Trump administration.
On February 20, 1,904 people were dying on a seven day average. The number dipped again in March to 1,083.
On April 20, the number had decreased to 784 deaths on average per seven days. May saw the number shrink to 595 and in June the average seven day death rate was down to 300.
The dropping numbers come as the CDC reinstated mask recommendations for vaccinated individuals, a policy which was previously dropped in May when the seven day average was recorded at 595.
When the White House was pressed as to why vaccinated individuals must wear masks, press secretary Jen Psaki said the recommendations were due to the “transmissibility of the virus.”
“Because the public health leaders in our administration have made the determination, based on data, that is a way to make sure they are protected, their loved ones are protected.,” she said. “That’s an extra step in given the transmissibility of the virus.”
“Federal officials met on Sunday night to review new evidence that may have prompted the reversal,” a New York Times report stated. “The new guidance would mark a sharp turnabout from the agency’s position since May that vaccinated people do not need to wear masks in most indoor spaces.”
“It’s a dynamic situation. It’s a work in progress, it evolves like in so many other areas of the pandemic,” Dr. Anthony Fauci explained Sunday. “You’ve got to look at the data.”
The Associated Press reported the peak death toll “topped out in mid-January at an average of more than 3,400 a day, just a month into the biggest vaccination drive in the nation’s history.”