The year 2021 appears to have started on a grim note as more people died in January after contracting COVID-19 in the United States than in any other month since the disease started spreading, according to the COVID tracking project.
“January saw the most deaths of any month so far at 95,211, nearly 20k more than in December,” the collaborative volunteer-run effort to track the ongoing CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic in the United States wrote on Twitter.
The previous highest was recorded in December, with over 77,000 people dying from the CCP virus nationwide while a total of 6.4 million people contracted the virus, more than doubling the previous month, during which about 37,000 people died.
The project also provided additional information on the number of patients hospitalized, showing that on average more people were admitted to hospitals with the CCP virus, commonly referred to as the novel coronavirus, in January than in any other month.
The effort noted, however, that towards the end of the month, the 7-day average numbers showed a decline compared to a peak in the middle of January.
At the same time, the 7-day average number of new cases is more than 40k fewer than at the beginning of the month and more than 100k fewer than at their peak on January 12. The number of people currently hospitalized is more than 37k fewer than at its mid-month peak. pic.twitter.com/OnVKolPffJ
— The COVID Tracking Project (@COVID19Tracking) February 1, 2021
About 127,000 people on a 7-day average were admitted to hospitals nationwide in January. Right now, there are 95,013 people hospitalized with COVID-19 nationwide, according to the project.
The effort explained that taking a 7-day average helps them to “understand trends around inconsistencies in the reported data,” adding that during the second half of January, the total number of cases and hospitalizations declined compared to the first half of the month.
This decline in cases is likely influenced by friends and family gatherings over the holiday periods. A 7-day average of new CCP virus cases shows over 40,000 fewer people tested positive at the end of the month than at the beginning of January. The numbers peaked in mid-January on Jan. 12, the effort said.
“The 7-day average number of new cases is more than 40k fewer than at the beginning of the month and more than 100k fewer than at their peak on January 12,” the COVID tracking project said, adding that “the number of people currently hospitalized is more than 37k fewer than at its mid-month peak.”
The 7-day averages help us to understand trends around inconsistencies in the reported data. None of the 7-day averages for COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, or deaths had a record day in the second half of the month.
— The COVID Tracking Project (@COVID19Tracking) February 1, 2021
As of Feb. 1, over 26.1 million people have tested positive for COVID-19 nationwide and at least 441,367 people have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
The Biden administration at one of its new health briefings last week said it is projecting about 90,000 more deaths in the next four weeks.
“I know this is not news we all want to hear, but this is something we must say so we are all aware,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “If we are united in action we can turn things around.”
The CDC’s latest forecast means the country will have a cumulative 479,000 and 514,000 deaths by Feb. 20, Walensky said.
Epoch Times reporter Mimi Nguyen Ly contributed to this report.