While the nation's seven-day COVID-19 death average has been decreasing for a week, the U.S. is still reporting an average of 3,000 people dying each day, reports The COVID Tracking Project.
Six more updates:
1. More than 450,000 Americans have died from COVID-19, according to data from Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University.
2. Covax plans to ship more than 300 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to low-income countries by June 30, reports The New York Times. The international assistance program aims to supply vaccines at low or no cost. Covax said Feb. 3 that it hopes to ship 336 million AstraZeneca-Oxford doses to 145 countries in the first half of 2021, with shipments to begin late February or early March. The deliveries would be among the first vaccines to reach some countries, reports the NYT.
3. Anthony Fauci, MD, warned Americans to avoid large Super Bowl parties during a Feb. 3 interview with NBC's Today. Super Bowl parties bring together people from many different households and could cause a superspreader event, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said. He recommended Americans watch the game with people in their household.
4. More than 27 million Americans have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose as of Feb. 3, according to the CDC.
5. President Joe Biden issued a disaster declaration Feb. 3 over COVID-19's effect on the Navajo Nation. The declaration offers additional emergency aid for the tribe to support recovery efforts. The nation's largest Native American reservation, which is home to 173,000 people, has reported 28,544 COVID-19 cases as of Feb. 3.
6. The first federal COVID-19 vaccine sites will open in Oakland, Calif., and Los Angeles Feb. 16, reports USA Today. Each site will be able to administer up to 5,000 vaccine doses every day, according to California emergency services spokesperson Brian Ferguson.
Snapshot of COVID-19 in the U.S.
Cases: 26,559,013
Deaths: 450,826
Counts reflect data available as of 9 a.m. CST Feb. 4.