Coronavirus updates: Herd immunity by fall 'ambitious,' says surgeon general nominee
In 44 states, the seven-day average of new cases dropped over 10%.
A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now infected more than 98.7 million people worldwide and killed over 2.1 million of them, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
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Weekly average cases in US back to 'pre-Thanksgiving levels'
New COVID-19 cases in the U.S. are seeing a "very encouraging" drop, according to The COVID Tracking Project.
The number of weekly cases decreased 21% as of Saturday, the tracker said. There were "more modest but very welcome" drops in COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations as well.
The seven-day average for cases is back to "pre-Thanksgiving levels," though the group noted there are still nearly three times as many new cases daily compared to the summer peak.
LA County crosses 15,000 deaths
Los Angeles County has crossed 15,000 deaths, with about one-third of those deaths happening in 2021.
Health officials reported 269 deaths in the county on Saturday. LA remains the hardest-hit county in the United States. LA County has more than twice as many cases (1,064,887) as the second-highest in the nation (Arizona's Maricopa County; 444,431, according to Johns Hopkins University).
The county said 5,106 people have died since Dec. 30.
There was a little bit of good news in LA, however, as the county is following national trends of dropping hospitalizations. The number of people in hospitals with COVID-19 dropped under 7,000 for the first time since Dec. 29, according to the health department.
"Many people continue to spread this virus and, tragically, now more than 15,000 people have died from COVID-19 in Los Angeles County," Dr. Barbara Ferrer, the county's director of public health, said in a statement. "While we are seeing some positive data in daily new cases and hospitalizations, we are far from out of the woods. It is critically important we slow COVID-19 spread to decompress the strain on our healthcare system and save lives."
ABC News' Matthew Fuhrman contributed to this report.
New deaths, cases on decline
Week-to-week comparisons show new deaths and new cases are on the decline nationwide, according to an internal Department of Health and Human Services memo obtained by ABC News.
Thirty-one states and territories are in a downward trajectory of new cases, according to the memo. Twenty states and territories are in an upward trajectory of new cases while five jurisdictions are at a plateau.
The U.S. saw 1,318,915 new cases from Jan. 16 to Jan. 22 -- a 20.3% decrease from the previous week.
There were 21,442 deaths reported from Jan. 16 to Jan. 22, which was a 7.7% decrease from the week before.
The national test-positivity rate also dropped, falling from 11.9% to 10.4% in week-to-week comparisons, the memo said.
ABC News’ Josh Margolin contributed to this report.
Indoor dining returns to Chicago
Indoor dining resumed in Chicago on Saturday as the city moved to “Tier 1” of reopening “due to recent progress in the fight against COVID-19,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said.
Indoor dining is limited to 25 people or 25% capacity with tables six feet apart.
All bars and restaurants must close at 11 p.m.
"We have long pushed for the careful resumption of limited indoor dining, and I am thrilled that we have made enough progress … to reopen our businesses and bring workers back," Lightfoot said in a statement, according to ABC Chicago station WLS.
New Zealand reports 1st community COVID-19 case since November
The New Zealand Health Ministry announced Sunday it recorded its first coronavirus case from within the community in three months.
New Zealand has been reporting positive cases in managed isolation, which requires anyone who travels into the country, both citizens and non-citizens, to go into a 14-day quarantine in a designated facility. There have been no cases from within the community since November.
The female patient traveled in Spain and the Netherlands late last year for work, according to officials.
"While in the Netherlands she was in contact with family members, who subsequently tested positive for COVID-19," the health ministry said in a statement.
The patient arrived in Auckland on Dec. 30 following a trip from the United Kingdom with a layover in Singapore, according to the Health Ministry. The patient stayed at a hotel during her 14-day quarantine and tested negative on Jan. 2 and Jan. 10, according to the Health Ministry.
"The person started developing mild symptoms on 15 January and these progressively got worse. The person had a test taken on Friday 22 January and self-isolated at home," the Health Ministry said in a statement.
The patient's roommate hasn't shown any symptoms so far, but has been tested and is isolating at home, according to the Health Ministry.
The Health Ministry said it is contact tracing and carrying out rapid genome sequencing to see if there's a match to one of the more transmissible variants.
-ABC News' Christine Theodorou