COVID-19 updates: US cases at lowest point since Christmas

Daily cases have dropped by 71% over the last three weeks.

ByMorgan Winsor, Emily Shapiro, Ivan Pereira, and Nadine El-Bawab
Last Updated: February 14, 2022, 12:04 AM EST

As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.8 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 919,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

About 64.4% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Feb 09, 2022, 4:07 PM EST

Illinois looks to end indoor mask mandate

Illinois plans to lift its indoor mask mandate at the end of month, Gov. JB Pritzker said, citing "hospitalization rates declining faster than any other point in the pandemic."

A bicyclist with a protective mask waits at an intersection along Michigan Avenue in Chicago, July 24, 2020.
Bloomberg via Getty Images, FILE

"If these trends continue -- and we expect them to -- then on Monday, Feb. 28, we will lift the indoor mask requirement," he said Wednesday.

Masks will continue in Illinois schools "subject to pending litigation which impacts a number of schools," the governor's office said. "As the CDC reaffirmed just today, masks remain a critical tool to keep schools safe and open."

The governors of New York and Rhode Island also announced an end to their indoor mask mandates on Wednesday.

Feb 09, 2022, 2:01 PM EST

Rhode Island lifting indoor mask mandate

Rhode Island will lift the statewide indoor mask policy on Friday, Gov. Dan McKee announced.

Rhode Island's school mask mandate will be extended until March. 4. At that time, school masking policies will be decided by individual school districts.

This comes hours after New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said New York's indoor mask mandate will end on Thursday.

Feb 09, 2022, 1:01 PM EST

US hospitalizations at lowest point since early January

The U.S. case rate has dropped by nearly 70% since the peak and now stands at an average of 247,000 new cases each day, according to federal data.

People still wear their masks, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, in Los Angeles, Feb. 8, 2022.
David Swanson/Reuters

Alaska currently leads the nation in new cases per capita, followed by Mississippi and West Virginia.

For the first time since early January, fewer than 100,000 COVID-19-positive patients are in U.S. hospitals -- a big drop from the country's peak of 160,000 patients nearly three weeks ago.

Although U.S. cases and hospitalizations are falling, deaths -- a lagging indicator -- are close to the highest point in nearly one year.

The U.S. daily death toll is hovering around 2,400. Since the beginning of 2022 nearly 77,000 Americans have died of COVID-19, according to federal data.

Mississippi currently holds the country's highest seven-day death rate followed by Virginia and Ohio.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos

Feb 09, 2022, 12:31 PM EST

Denver to end mask requirement in schools

Denver will no longer require masks in schools beginning Feb. 26, city officials said, citing "rapidly decreasing" cases and a high vaccination rate.

In this Dec. 14, 2021, file photo, students work on projects in art class at Bruce Randolph School in Denver.
Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post/MediaNews Group via Getty Images, FILE

"It is safe to lift the school mask mandate at this time,” Denver’s chief medical officer, Dr. Sterling McLaren, said in a statement. “The best way to protect children is to make sure they stay up to date with their vaccinations and ensure that the adults around them are vaccinated as well.”

Denver is not alone in ending school mask requirements. School mask mandates in Connecticut and Massachusetts will expire on Feb. 28, followed by New Jersey on March 7, and Oregon and Delaware on March 31.

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