U.S. COVID update (September 29): 117,000 new cases, 1,213 new deaths

More than 117,000 new COVID cases were reported in the United States this week, a fourth week of decline, as the weekly death toll remained above 1,200, according to figures collected by BNO News.

At least 117,284 new cases were reported between September 23 and September 29, down from 131,272 the week before (-11%). Those figures were collected from state health departments and, where necessary, estimated based on hospital admissions.

Actual case numbers are higher because many hospitals and states are no longer reporting detailed COVID data. Laboratory testing is also low as most people and doctors are using at-home tests which are not included in official statistics.

Starting this week, every household in the U.S. is once again eligible to order 4 free at-home COVID tests. The tests are being made available in anticipation of the expected winter wave. Orders can be placed at covidtests.gov.

During the past week, cases increased in only 7 out of 24 states with consistent but limited data. In those states where increases were reported, the changes were only minimal.

The CDC estimates that COVID cases are currently rising in 0 states (down from 3 last week), declining or likely declining in 41 states (up from 23), and stable or uncertain in 7 states (down from 23). Nationally, COVID test positivity is 11.6%, down from 14.9% last week.

Only 32.6% of hospitals in the U.S. submitted COVID data this week, unchanged from last week and the lowest since the end of mandatory reporting on May 1. Those limited figures reveal that at least 4,657 Americans are currently hospitalized with COVID, down from 4,974 last week.

1,213 new COVID deaths were reported during the week, the seventh week in a row with more than 1,000 new deaths. It’s also the 12th week in a row with more than 500 new deaths and the 236th week with more than 400 new deaths.

So far this year, more than 5.5 million COVID cases have been reported across the U.S., causing at least 375,971 hospitalizations (limited data) and 43,923 deaths, according to BNO’s COVID data tracker.

LINK: Click here to read all weekly updates

Help us continue our work: BNO News is one of the last teams collecting crucial COVID data across the U.S. Help us continue our work by making a contribution on PayPal, BuyMeACoffee, Patreon or Ko-Fi.