The 19.5 million cases reported in the eight weeks since Thanksgiving 2021 is 70% higher than the same eight weeks following Thanksgiving 2020. All but three states have had more cases this winter compared with COVID-19’s first winter wave, which was deadliest period of the pandemic.
While cases are higher than ever, numbers that measure the severity of the virus — like hospitalizations and deaths — have not increased by the same amount. During the eight weeks since Thanksgiving, COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations are 50% and 21% lower respectively than the year before.
