U.S. sees fewer than 100,000 COVID-19 cases for 4th straight day

Feb. 11 (UPI) -- The United States saw a repeat performance on Wednesday of the overall COVID-19 picture -- fewer-than-normal cases and a spike in coronavirus deaths, according to updated data.

The new data from Johns Hopkins University Thursday shows there were about 94,700 new cases nationwide, the fourth straight day under 100,000.

The last time the United States saw such a streak was the end of October, before the largest wave of the COVID-19 took hold for almost three months.

Deaths, however, increased again -- this time to nearly 3,400 on Wednesday, a rise of a couple hundred, according to the data.

The numbers were nearly identical to the national coronavirus picture on Tuesday.

Since the start of the pandemic, there have been a total of 27.3 million cases and about 471,600 deaths in the United States, according to Johns Hopkins.

The data show there has been a sharp decline in cases since the middle of January, a trend experts attribute to the available vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, almost 44.8 million vaccine doses have been given in the United States to date and close to 66 million have been distributed nationwide.

President Joe Biden's coronavirus response team detailed plans at its briefing Wednesday to open federal vaccination "supersites" at locations throughout the country, including three sports stadiums in Texas.

The community focused program aims to vaccinate vulnerable and underserved populations.

Biden plans to visit the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., on Thursday afternoon to tour its Viral Pathogenesis Laboratory and speak to medical and research staff.

The president is scheduled to visit at about 3:45 p.m. EST, the White House said.

Other COVID-19 updates on Thursday:

• Some schoolchildren and teachers in Chicago will return to classrooms on Thursday, under a deal approved by a teachers union this week.
• The Labor Department will issue its weekly unemployment report on Thursday morning, which is expected to show the latest impact of the pandemic. Most economists expect the report to show about 750,000 new jobless claims, which would be a slight decrease from last week.
• Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl Anthony-Towns returned to action Wednesday night after a coronavirus-related hiatus.