January started with the worst daily case rate of the pandemic. Since then, cases have decreased while deaths remain near record highs.
The rate of new COVID-19 cases confirmed daily in the US hit an all-time high in early January, with the seven-day average peaking at just over 246,000 cases per day on January 8. By January 31, the seven-day average had dropped 41% to 145,000 per day. January was the second-worst month for new confirmed cases, with a total of 6.1 million, down 4% from the 6.3 million cases reported over the course of December.
