Covid cases falling, but trouble signs arise as winter looms in US

Tumbling Covid-19 case counts have some schools around the US considering relaxing their mask rules, but deaths nationally have been ticking up.

Tumbling Covid-19 case counts have some schools around the US considering relaxing their mask rules, but deaths nationally have been ticking up over the past few weeks, some rural hospitals are showing signs of strain, and cold weather is setting in.

The number of new cases nationally has been plummeting since the delta surge peaked in mid-September. The US is averaging about 73,000 new cases per day, dramatically lower than the 173,000 recorded on September 13. And the number of Americans in the hospital with Covid-19 has plummeted by about half to around 47,000 since early September.