In the last week, COVID-19 hospitalization averages have dropped 10 percent or more in 40 states, reports The COVID Tracking Project.
Daily COVID-19 cases are also decreasing, with the lowest daily case average since Oct. 27 reported Feb. 8.
Six more updates:
1. Only 29 percent of U.S. adults over age 65 received a COVID-19 vaccine during the first month of vaccinations, a new Kaiser Family Foundation analysis found. Of the states reporting COVID-19 vaccinations by age, West Virginia has inoculated the highest proportion of adults 65 and older at 34 percent as of Feb. 4. Pennsylvania has vaccinated the smallest proportion at 10 percent.
2. It is "extremely unlikely" that the COVID-19 pandemic resulted from a laboratory accident, the World Health Organization team investigating the pandemic's origins said Feb. 9. The team shared the first details of its investigation, saying evidence suggests the virus emerged from "a natural reservoir," likely jumping from animals to humans, reports The New York Times.
3. The FDA's advisory committee is set to discuss emergency approval for Johnson & Johnson's vaccine candidate Feb. 26. Johnson & Johnson submitted a request for emergency use authorization for its vaccine Feb. 4. The Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee doesn't make the final decision on whether to authorize a vaccine, but provides guidance to the agency after the public discussion.
4. People with dementia are two times more likely to contract COVID-19, according to a study published Feb. 9 in Alzheimer's & Dementia. Researchers analyzed EHR data on 61.9 million adults and found people with dementia also had a higher risk of hospitalization and death from the virus compared to people without dementia.
5. Facebook plans to remove posts that contain false claims about vaccines, the social media giant said Feb. 8. In December, Facebook updated its policy to remove COVID-19 vaccine claims that federal or global health agencies have disproved. The company's most recent action expands on this effort and applies to all vaccine information.
6. Florida has reported more than 200 cases of the U.K. coronavirus variant, known as B.1.1.7, according to Feb. 8 data from the CDC. In total, 690 B.1.1.7 cases have been confirmed across 33 states, with Florida reporting the most of any state.
Snapshot of COVID-19 in U.S.
Cases: 27,098,933
Deaths: 465,096
Americans receiving at least one vaccine dose: 32,340,146
Counts reflect Feb. 8 and Feb. 9 data from Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University and the CDC.