Nationwide, COVID-19 cases and deaths both decreased by nearly 20 percent this week, according to the CDC's COVID-19 data tracker weekly review published March 3.
Six updates:
Variants
1. Based on projections for the week ending March 18, the CDC estimates that XBB.1.5 accounts for 90 percent of cases, up from 88.8 percent a week prior.
Cases
2. As of March 15, the nation's seven-day case average was 21,422, a 19.7 percent decrease from the previous week's average.
Hospitalizations
3. The seven-day hospitalization average for March 8-14 was 2,757, a 9.5 percent decrease from the previous week's average.
Deaths
4. The current seven-day death average is 244, down 18.8 percent from the previous week's average. Some historical deaths have been excluded from these counts, the CDC said.
Wastewater surveillance
5. About 53 percent of U.S. testing sites are reporting moderate to high virus levels in wastewater.
6. About 38 percent of sites are reporting an increase in virus levels, and 51 percent of sites are seeing a decrease.